My Little Pony: Tales of Equestria
by Pokemon Master Sean
Summary: MLP: Friendship is Magic. When a returning darkness threatens the lands of Equestria once more,how will the ponies band together? Can their friendship grow stronger or is Abyssal the certain doom of Equestria. Canons and OCs, shipping in. Please review.
1. Prelude

**Author's notes: Ok so this is my first fanfiction and hoping to have it is a continuous series. Do not believe my OC to be the main character. In fact, I will have the story focus on every main canon pony and even my OC. Gradually as the story progresses; I will be very open to ideas and requests if you would like your very own OC in this universe. My little Pony: Friendship is Magic is owned by Hasbro and I do not own it. Please support the official release.**

**Prelude**

Since the beginning in what was known as the ancient times, Equestria was founded upon by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, having sacked Discord. Princess Celestia took her role of arising the sun every morning, whilst Princess Luna took her role in bringing out the moon during the night. Sisters, both agreed that everypony would be allowed to settle together under the fertile landscape of Equestria. Earth ponies, pegasus ponies and unicorn ponies alike were granted equals and collectivised together to thrive the future generations of ponies. Everypony knows the story of the betrayal of Princes Luna and her attempts to cast the night out forever, ultimately leading to her entrapment in the moon from princess Celestia. During this unfortunate event, very few ponies still remember the concurrent event of the war in Equestria. Yes, the event had been much darker and is now a piece of history that most ponies of Equestria would sadly try and forget.

From the southern lands of Equestria came the evil ponies with a heart as black as they void in which they came from. Their origins are separate and unclear, yet what unified their cause was the opposition of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna in Equestria, instead believing Equestria to be their own lands. For months the quarrel led to endless torment and violence in the south. Many ponies at the time were explorers and settlers, building their homes on the land, yet not many dared to go to the southern lands. Princess Celestia pleaded for diplomacy and negotiation, unpleased that these ponies filled with darkness and hatred did not appreciate her work. Celestia wished for them ponies to integrate with the rest of the kingdom and to embrace the universal love and happiness as the other ponies. During this time, Princess Luna grew much more bitter and developed a hard-lined authoritative attitude, insisting that these ponies were going to stay be ruled in Equestria whether they liked it or not. The emotional decision was a deep impact for poor princess Celestia. To her dismay the event occurred where she was forced to cast her sister to the moon for the next few years. Weeks had gone by and Celestia was left heartbroken, only a teenager, it was as if she had lost her sister and would never be able to see her again. And here she was, alone and left to cry for now. Though the matters had to be dealt with over the aggressiveness from the evil ponies in the south. The ultimate solution now, and without opposition from her sister, was to propose that these ponies were allowed to have their own country and govern themselves in complete independence in co-existence toleration with Equestria.

Rejected! The solution was quickly dissolved after the evil ponies of the south resorted to their primal greed and hunger for more. Instead they demanded that 'All' Equestria belong to them and princess Celestia should be banished just as she had done with her sister. Amongst the evil ponies was Abyssal, a unicorn type pony and a common participator in the arts of black magic, now known as curses today. They call her Abyssal as it was believed that she arose from the abyss itself. The abyss being a bottomless hole located in the south, that no pony has ever seen the end, leading many to believe that she was never full pony to begin with. Now it is gone and replaced with Abyssal's own fortress. Before moving onto Abyssal any further, black magic will be briefly reflected upon: Curses/Black magic is forbidden magic that have been banned to be practiced in Equestria. Like most unicorn ponies have access to many types of universal and specific spells, curses fall under their own category and can be practiced by ponies with access to magic. The main curses include spells which directly inflict internal pain and suffering; 'Necromancy', which involves death, reanimation of corpses and further pain; 'Mind Control' which involves spells that mentally manipulate others into doing the bidding of the controller. Curses however, are not limited to just the evil ponies. These curses were worshipped upon by Abyssal and her followers, leading her to become corrupted by her sinister and evil powers, thus becoming cursed herself into becoming a new type of pony. One so evil and savage, that her hair and mane turned black, bat-like wings grew from her sides, sharp fang-like teeth emerged In her mouth, her eyes turned blood red. Today she is widely regarded as the first 'vampony', a new species of pony. Using her powerful magic, she constructed her own fortress over the Abyss which was believed to spawn her. Spreading her curse, uniting the evil ponies and sharing her dark magic brought a rise to the new powerful opposition to Princess Celestia. Mistress Abyssal wanted to bring complete darkness and chaos to Equestria.

It was not long before a majority of these evil ponies joined her cause and became followers of Abyssal. Throughout the southern lands, she spread her influence and united ponies for her own cause. With a strong enough force and leadership, they waged war upon Princes Celestia and marched north as a spiteful resistance. Though the morale of the Equestrian ponies was too strong, they bonded together in support for Princess Celestia. Under the magnificent leadership of Princess Celestia and her officers, Abyssal and her evil forces were pushed back into the southern lands up to the point of Midnight Fortress. This was were evil all began. Midnight Fortress was the lands Abyssal calls her home; a mountainous land with a volcano that spits out ash. The fortress and rocky wilderness are covered in the black ash which flood the lands colour. It was here were the war had finally ended.

Mistress Abyssal and the rest of her vampony servants which she had turned were all sealed in their coffins and locked away for eternity. The powerful magic of Princess Celestia locked every vampony in a coffin and had them sleep for eternity until the coffin was opened. Though to ensure it never was, the coffins remained magically sealed and stored deep in the dungeons of Midnight Fortress. Back in Canterlot, princess Celestia and the ponies that served in the military returned as heroes and saviours of Equestria. All evil major ponies that followed Abyssal became scattered and lacked unification. Only a few organisations built up and would cause trouble for Equestria, though nowhere near as much of a threat as Abyssal's army had once been.

The mistake was to leave the coffins at Midnight Fortress. With the energy of the abyss deep below the foundations of the fortress, Mistress Abyssal fed off the terrible aura, making her stronger than ever. With the newfound power, she was able to wake herself up from a deep slumber and dispel Princess Celestia's seal. Many years had passed since the war. She has awoken now to a new era, where the lands of Equestria are settled and economic plus political relations between other kingdoms build up. On top of that, Princess Luna has returned to the monarchy to rule alongside Princess Celestia once more. So with a new era arises a new plan. With enough energy to leave her coffin, she will free her vampony minions and once again build up an army of ponies, a new and stronger army, capable of taking on Equestria. The followers of Abyssal will aid her in sabotaging Equestria and build up a worthy army. She will spread her vampony curse onto others so that they will be a species to be reckoned with. With a series of thousands of plans, she will one day rule Equestria and bring a new darkness over the land.


	2. OC Profiles

**Author's notes: The following story is a My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fanfiction. MLP:FiM is owned by Hasbro and I do not own it. Please support the official release.**

**OC Profiles**

**Name:** Shadow Thrill

**Gender**: Male

**Age:** Mid-teenage years. (The same as the six main ponies)

**Race:** Unicorn Pony

**Eyes:** Crimson Red

**Coat:** Black

**Mane/Tail:** Long and wavy. When his mane is rarely styled straight, it will be curtained to both sides. Both Shadow's mane and tail were originally black, but now dyed dark red.

**Cutie Mark:** A single bat made of shadow

**Personality:** Intelligence is perhaps the most distinct trait which shines off to other ponies at first. Having studied at a private academy under the best education at one of the finest schools in Equestria, Shadow specialised in philosophy, science and logic. His effort in engaging in deep and external subjects has left him smart and knowledgeable of the world around him. Before anything, Shadow will tend to think things through and analyse scenarios before jumping to it. Let us remember though, that intelligence does not necessitate wisdom. Despite having the intelligence, Shadow can prove to be rather reckless and naive, reflecting a lack of wisdom. He can form a genius and well thought out logical plan, yet it can be as crazy and daring as it is intelligent. Sadly, he may have all the knowledge in theories, yet he lacks the life experience. In some cases he will even substitute rationality for a reckless charge when pushed far enough, at least that shows a glint of bravery. Though every pony learns to recognize that if they need the brains and answers to a problem, they would go to him.

Shadow may come across as being a 'know-it-all' but rest assure, he is as wild and adventurous as Rainbow Dash and determined to gain life experience for himself as opposed to knowing it from a book. Yes he will integrate his intelligence into crazy theories, such as designing up a crazy flying machine for the purpose of gliding around Ponyville. Of course in turn, these crazy plans are not always bound to work. Some flaws with his personality; deep down is the problem that he may be seen as too pessimistic, rather wanting to be right than happy. It's not that he deliberately sees the glass half empty, rather he tries to be a realist, even if that means his perspective is what others believe to be pessimistic. On the surface he does not express much emotion toward others, rather keeping his portrait as a knowledgeable philosopher to a political idealist with some crazy and exciting plans to make up the appeal. In a crisis he will be there to support friends of course. Though deep down, he can be quite emotional having not had many close friends nor lovers in the past; and it's a side that is very rare to see, perhaps only revealed in privacy with the most trusting friends.

Shadow has been brought up in an upper-middle class background at Academia, what would seem like the Equestrian stereotypical British style. Yes, he talks with a strong well mannered and sophisticated accent (which sounds traditionally English) and will sometimes slip in the stereotypical British terms and to top that up, he tends to be as well mannered and polite as he can, though may ease down when he gets friendlier toward a new pony. His cutie mark is a shadow bat, as will be explained under 'powers'. With the use of his horn for magical purposes, he was trained in the arts of shadow magic. Most ponies would tend to think of this pony as rather dark and sinister, fearing him and refusing to get to know him. Though he is well aware that his power and bat icon may cause fear, he has not much care for that. It's those rare ponies that get to know him, which he appreciates, making him a potentially tough cookie to befriend. Though he wants to see the world now, you may riddle it out of him that one day he would like to settle for a political career and have a say over Equestria.

**Powers:** Unlike other unicorn ponies, Shadow only has the ability to perform what is known as shadow magic and is incapable of doing other magic most unicorn ponies can do; thus also gaining his first name. His special magic grants Shadow the abilities to manifest and control shadows as tangible forms. He is able to draw shadow from a two dimensional surface as a black semi-liquid silhouette being under his control and subject to have its shape reformed. In sacrifice to his unique power, he cannot perform universal magic like all other magical using ponies.

The shadows he can manipulate is limitless and dependable on the amount of shadows in the area. What he can always do is separate his own shadow and creates a dark-silhouette figure, his very own shadow clone which he calls a doppelgänger.

Despite all this, the shadow magic is based on the use for destructive combat rather than helpful domestic spells. This leaves Shadow to sometimes be reluctant to use any of his own magic as it could put others in danger.

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><p><strong>Expect an update to this page in case of any additional profiles.<strong>


	3. Chapter 1: Shadow Thrill Arrives

**Author's notes: The following story is a My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fanfiction. MLP:FiM is owned by Hasbro and I do not own it. Please support the official release.**

**Chapter 1: Shadow Thrill Arrives**

Ponyville? No….. Ponyville? No….. How long had it been since he had set off from his last resting point? The breeze raced itself across the river shores of the Everfree forest, rustling the leaves and creating the waves. The small waves directed itself onto the shores and crashed themselves on the small rock sides or the willow trees. As well as that, some crashed against a crooked wooden raft. Wooden logs attached together to form a float for a certain black coated and red haired pony to travel on. Standing on top of the, not so comfortable, raft Shadow Thrill awaited his landing in the habitat of Ponyville; right now only appreciating that there were no violent winds or strong currents. Yes, he is smart enough to think up with designs for sailing. No, he was no forepony or crafter, nor was he a navigator. The raft itself, how crude it may be, had seen better days. Shadow's head sharply turned to view every corner, looking for any civilisation around. From what he heard, Ponyville was the next town that he was approaching. The past few days, since he left his home in Academia, Shadow had only passed by on this raft which he made and quickly entered the mouth of a river, passing through many villages beside the river shore and the wilderness. It was all beautiful and exotic for him to finally seen mainland Equestria, making him feel alien to his own home kingdom.

Now however, his atmosphere was creepy. Shadow was not afraid, though he was eager to quickly get out of this forest and see Ponyville for himself. What made him paranoid was the fact that most sunlight was blocked by the depressing willow trees and the sea of leaves up above, making the surface rather dark. Some time passes and suddenly motion on his raft stops! Shadow Thrill clumsily fell onto wild and untrimmed grass. He had hit the shore! And with that collision, the raft's life ended as the wooden planks chipped themselves apart and floated as debris. Shadow Thrill lifted himself up and letting out a sigh. "Looks like I'm walking."

As Shadow Thrill trotted near the side of the river shore, his gaze was fixated upon the debris that was once tessellated as his raft. A disappointed expression on his face as it had always been... well... disappointing to see his crude contraptions destroy themselves. Shadow's hoofs stepped forward on the natural grown grass. Passing by the forest, he had never seen the environment so... chaotic. Though he felt eerie over how everything here was naturally untamed... it felt almost exciting to see something so new, no matter how chaotic it was.

"Wait a second? Did I pass that rock before?"

Yes! He did recognize that rock shape. To his dismay, he had been walking along in circles. Letting out another frustrated sigh, he took off in a new direction. This forest had better end soon. He just wanted to get to Ponyville right now, being in at least some decent civilisation that was not home.

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><p>Returning from Zecora's hut, not too deep within the Everfree forest, Twilight Sparkle walked a narrow dirt road. "Ahhhh what a refreshing cup of tea." Only her favourite of course. True, she had the book with the recipe to make the herbal tea, but she could never perfect it as good as Zecora. Refreshed from her visit, she was on her journey back to Ponyville where she would return home to her studies at the library. The path turned a full 90 degrees now, concealing the corner just behind a large rock. The saying 'there is a surprise around every corner' is true in this case. Smacking into one another by the nose, Shadow Thrill and Twilight Sparkle stumbled backwards from their collision. Both ponies mimicked each other as their bodies struggled to keep their balance, their pupils spinning around due to the dizziness. Finally both were quick to shake off the impact effects and now both were left staring at each other, pony to pony.<p>

"Good day miss. It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Shadow Thrill" Shadow Thrill held out his hoof toward the new Lavender coated and purple/pink haired pony to gesture a polite hoof shake. "May I add that I'm awfully sorry for that bump. Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine thanks." Twilight Sparkle replied with her eyes fixated on this new pony. It was odd. This pony was someone she had never seen before, but the black and red... well they felt like threatening colours. An almost sinister looking type of pony. His accent was sophisticated and unique though (British), so he must not be from around these parts. Nevertheless she knew better than to judge a book by its cover, after all that was how she and Zecora became friends. "Pleased to meet you Shadow Thrill. The name is Twilight Sparkle, but you can just call me Twilight." She gave a humble smile as she accepted his request of a hoof shake.

"I've never seen you around here before Shadow Thrill. What brings you here to the Everfree forest?" Twilight Sparkle asked with utmost concern, hoping that Shadow was well aware that the Everfree forest was a dangerous place for a pony to wander alone.

"Well I'm lost you see and I'm trying to find my way to Ponyville. I-"

"Ponyville! Well that's where I'm from."

"Splendid!" Immediately Shadow Thrill's face brightened up over the though of leaving this forest soon. Of course Twilight Sparkle already seemed like a helpful pony, she would surely help him find his way to Ponyville.

"And rest assure, I've memorised the entire Everfree forest from the geographical books I have. You can count on me to take you back." Twilight nodded in satisfaction and was always proud to help out another pony. "But first, let's clean up that mud shall we." She chuckled before swinging her long purple hair to her side and pointing her horn at Shadow Thrill; her horn emitting a Lavender glowing light.

A baffled Shadow was left in a state of confusion over her previous statement. It was only when he looked back at his body did he see the mud from his coat and some on his dark red tail. Looking up, there was some mud on his black horn too. Thanks to the use of Twilight's magic, the mud separated itself from his coat and slid off like full liquid. "Oh. Why thank you Twilight." He let out an embarrassed smile which Twilight easily detected, letting out another chuckle to herself. "Oh it's the least I could do. No come on, I'll take you into town."

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><p>"So you say that you've only been travelling on a raft from Academia? What a journey that must have been. But I've read so much on Academia, a city of scholarship; you must tell me what it's like there." 10 Minutes into the journey to Ponyville, and already Twilight's complete attention was grasped by Shadow's story. Never before had she heard of a pony to float from the island of Academia, by raft, to the mainland's of Equestria. So he was from Academia! Then he too must have been well educated. He had to have read a lot of books too. Oh he would be an interesting person to talk to; there could potentially be so many discussions between them. Well this was all too exciting for Twilight to meet a pony who had received a fine education. Should she begin to bring up her theory of quantum magical essence now or when they get to Ponyville?<p>

"Ah, well Academia is a lovely place of sorts. Yes it offers some of the best education in all of Equestria. But schools are quite…. demanding in some respects." It's true, the private school he was enrolled in was tight and challenging. Literally it was all work and no play. In all honesty, he had enough theories of the world for now. Just thinking back to it made him see his home as a black and white alienated land. Now was the time for him to go out and experience the world for himself, rather than read up what some smart pony experienced. Above all, Twilight Sparkle already came across as another intellectual pony with an intense educational background like himself. He did not want to accidentally stumble upon being across as arrogant, so soon after they had just met. Shadow did not wish to dwell on the topic of Academia for so long. "Well there is not so much going on in that upper class pony land, other than work and studying. But enough about Academia for now. Do tell me about Ponyville Twilight."

Somewhat disappointed that he had to cut the topic off so short. Then again, Twilight could detect that he was in no mood to discuss it right now. Perhaps he would tell her more later. Right now his question was an interesting one, and she was eager to sell off Ponyville as a lovely place he would be joyful to arrive to. "Ah Ponyville. Where to begin? The town had been founded hundreds of years ago and since then, ponies of all species alike live there. The community is very friendly and accepting, you'll fit right in. In fact, most ponies know each other, especially Pinkie Pie, she knows everypony in town." Just as she seemed like she finished, Shadow Thrill opened his mouth to respond. Though some inclusions came to Twilight's mind which she would add on before any sound could come out from Shadow Thrill's mouth. "Oh and once we arrive I should take you to try out the most delicious apples from my friend Applejack. Speaking of Applejack, I'll introduce you to all of my best friends. I'm sure they would all love to meet you." Yes that was a terrific idea! She could introduce Shadow Thrill to her friends Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. This new pony seemed interesting, she was sure that they would love to meet the newcomer.

"Hey, are you going to settle in at Ponyville by the way? I'm sure the community would love to have you here." Splendid, that was just on Shadow Thrill's mind. Of course he would love to settle in Ponyville but he had a lack of accommodation. "Well you see….I wa- wa- want to-"

"Say no more." Twilight insisted with a gleeful smile to cheer him up, judging from his hesitant reply. "I assure you that we will find you a place to stay. Your magic will be a valuable addition to all of us in Ponyville." With that, Shadow cheered right up with a feeling of satisfaction overwhelming him. The thought of it, his very own place to stay and fit in with a humble town. "Righto Twilight. You're such a lovely pony." The compliment made Twilight feel illuminated; she had successfully made a good first impression to the new pony. Trotting along, they were just around the corner from the border exit of the Everfree forest and it would be a relief for both of them to get some sunlight. "Well, Ponyville is jus-"

"Woah! So cool!" Shadow ceased all momentum on his legs and stood stiff still, his eyes glowed with stars as he stared down, just down the hill to the large humanoid figure stomping below. The confused Twilight trotted back next to Shadow Thrill to investigate his sudden halt, and to her horror she let out a gasp, just down the hill was a troll!

"Oh wow, that's a troll! It's so huge! I've only read about these creatures but I've never seen one with my own eyes! "The excited Shadow spoke each sentence with quick outbursts as he continued to stare down at the creature. Obviously to Shadow, this was all too new, he felt on top of the world as he was finally experiencing the witness of a race other than a pony. And he was so close to it too.

"Shhhhh!" Twilight placed a hoof across Shadow's mouth and pushed him into the nearby bush, followed by herself. The troll, on the other hand, turned his attention up the hill where the path had been. "Who there? Me hear ponies but me no see ponies!" Oh no, this was terrible. Twilight knew full well that trolls were monsters and would capture innocent ponies, before cooking them for their personal meal. She was too young to be troll food! Meanwhile, Shadow Thrill was all too excited to be hiding in a bush right now. "No don't!" Twilight whispered, but to no avail. Shadow stuck his head out of the bushes, shortly followed by leaving his hiding spot in which he trotted down the hill. "Oh my gosh a troll! A real life troll!" At that point he had walked right up to it. "Pleased to meet you sir my name is Shadow Thrill." He just remembered that long and conjoined sentences would probably confuse an unintelligible troll. If he fails to understand his speech, no communication is made and besides, Shadow certainly did not want to look like he was using big words and come across as being pedantic now. " Me Shadow Thrill."

"Shutup!" the Troll roared.

"You mad?" Shadow asked, judging from the troll's aggressive response. Instead the troll lifted shadow up, with his whole hand grabbing his body. Though Shadow kept that smile on his face as the troll stomped away into the forest with Shadow in his hands. Odd that Shadow was awfully calm about the situation and remained excited, despite being ponynapped. From afar in that bush Twilight panicked and wondered what to do now. The new pony was taken away by a troll! Was this really happening? "Urghhh! Think Twilight think!" She yelled to herself in hesitation. There was no time to run back and get help now, the troll was getting away and the thought of arriving to see Shadow in the belly of the best was just hideous. A determined look overcame her face as she returned to her senses and stared at the troll walking deeper into the forest. "Then it's up to me to save Shadow!"

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><p>Way in the forest, the troll returned to a pile of large trees, torn of their leaves and detached from their roots, laid out in the soil ready to be lit on fire. Around these trees were several boulders which encircled the fallen trees. Of course the size of these trees must have been like sticks to trolls. "Me start fire. You-"At this point Shadow joined in unison, saying what the troll was saying in sync. "stay in cage and wait to be cooked." Shadow chuckled to himself. "Yes yes I know the procedure. I've studied all about you." With that, the hostile troll cranked open the door of a steel cage and placed the pony inside, then slamming the cage and locking him up. "Now I prepare fire." With that, the troll stomped off to tend to the trees, Shadow Thrill no longer in his line of sight.<p>

Inside the cage, Shadow's head sharply turned to look around. For a cage it sure did have a lot of space. Plus he was aware that trolls were not the sharpest creatures; it amazed him that they were capable of making such well designed cages. "Pssssst." Shadow turned himself 180 degrees around to the bush just behind the steel bars. There it was, Twilight's head popping out while trying to conceal herself from the troll. "Oh hey Twilight, you came! Is this cool or what? I'm actually inside the cage of a troll. Wait until I-"

"Shhhh" Twilight interrupted trying to ensure he kept quiet. "I'll get you out of here. All I need to do is get the key. Luckily while I was following nearby, I was able to analyse a flawless plan to retrieve the key from the troll's grip and get you out of here." Her tone quickly changed to an angry one, still speaking in whisper. "What were you thinking of getting yourself caught anyway?" Shadow Thrill merely giggled out loud and kept his full calm. "Oh Twilight, I know that trolls are dangerous and want to eat us. However, I can assure you that I can escape myself."

Twilight raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "That's physically impossible, unless you know an unlockment spell, which sadly I have not studied yet in my latest spell book."Twilight crept forward a little more, silently moving past the cage toward the troll who was now sitting down and scraping the wooden trees to each other to create enough friction. "Now if my calculations are correct, I should be able to get that key and have you out of here in no- no- n" Twilight turned her attention back at Shadow Thrill who was now physically outside of the cage and right behind her. Shadow merely stared back at her with a blank expression, in contrast to Twilight's confusion. "But- but how?" She made several glances from the locked door of the cage, to Shadow Thrill who was standing right behind her. This she could not comprehend!

"Hey! Me find another pony!" The now intimidated Twilight turned around to see the troll staring right at her, into her eyes. Fear overcame twilight, as she crept back to stand alongside Shadow Thrill. "Oh no" She muttered silently to herself.

"Hold on…." Similar to Twilight, the troll made several glances at the locked cage, then back at Twilight Sparkle and Shadow Thrill, taking longer to comprehend what had happened. Finally he lifted up his key and stared at that, realising that they did not use the key to break out. "You two use magic! You must be unicorns!" As if he couldn't tell by the horns. Well at least the troll was capable of counting. The troll roared so loud, the nearby birds flew from their nests abandoning their homes. **"No one escapes me!"** In a fit of rage, the troll edged his hand toward a tree that was to be burnt; now treating this as his blunt club. "Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no." the intimidated Twilight took a few steps back in fear.

"Place a hoof on me." Shadow Thrill requested.

"What?" What an odd request at this time. Twilight was simply left in a disarranging confusion.

"Just trust me and place a hoof on me." Shadow repeated, still keeping his nerve.

Twilight Sparkle let out a scream to the troll who had now lifted the tree, with both hand, above his head, ready to swing it down and crush the unicorn ponies. In sheer trust at the last moment, Twilight thrusted a hoof onto Shadow Thrill barrel. The ponies were only inches away from the club which swung down. At that point, as the club was swung down and only just above their heads, overshadowing the ponies, Twilight could feel as if time had frozen as if she was conceiving her last second of life. The thud on the ground assured the troll that he had flattened the ponies like a pancake.

"What? But how did we?" Twilight looked around to find that they were back in the same spot where they had been separated. Here they were up the hill and down below was the location where the troll had once been before he took Shadow Thrill. "How did we get back here?" She turned to Shadow to find her answer. There on the ground, a two dimensional shadow joined itself once more to Shadow's hoofs. "Shadow magic! Of course!" She answered herself. Shadow gave her a nod. "Yep, that's why they call me 'Shadow' and what a grand adventure that was!" He proudly said excitedly.

Twilight Sparkle rolled her eyes and gave into her relief, letting out a gleeful smile. "And what a daredevil pony you are too. I take it that's why 'Thrill' is in there." Both ponies laughed, Twilight especially relieved to be out of that impending doom. "Oh and hey, about that incident. Thank you for saving me."

"No. I should apologize to you Twilight. I should have told you that I would be away for a while to simply examine the troll a little. But thank you for wanting to save me." He replied with that signature joyful expression and with the wind blowing back, blowing along his wavy red hair to give him some more dramatic affect. Twilight's hair did the same as she turned around to follow the path once more. "Come on. The wind is picking up. As I was saying, Ponyville is just around the corner from here."

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><p>Meanwhile, deep in the dungeons of the midnight fortress, disarray and struggle occurs. A black smoke fills the empty vacuum of the room. Gradually the black fog clears up, revealing a coffin which has been opened. The coffin lid, burst from its hinges, now lay out on the stone floor nearby. "Ahhh, yes!" An eerie and sinister voice hisses. "I am finally free. Free from that wretched slumber." A tall black pony stands in the middle of the room. Her height and shape, similar to that of the elegant Celestia. However her aura was the complete opposite in every way. Her coat was pitch black, devoid of any colour. Her eyes were crimson red, and her pupils took an odd narrow shape, similar to a cat or snake. And her wings…. It was like they belong to a bat. Her wings were like that of a bat's wings. Revealed in her ghastly smile was her two sharp fangs on each side of her teeth. Her cutie mark was blood, three drops of blood to be exact. Standing in the middle of the room in all her glory, the malevolent mistress, oblivious to all that is just and moral, proudly embraced her freedom.<p>

"I have returned from my slumber. It's been hundreds of years now!" Abyssal grew enraged over her reflectance on the past. Hundreds of years ago, at that time she was defeated by Princess Celestia and sealed away, bound to her coffin for an eternal slumber. Only the power of the abyss could save her. "Enjoy Equestria while you can Celestia! Soon I shall create a new army and extract my revenge!" The ghastly smile returned to her, widening her mouth to open it and revealing sharp and hungry fangs. She hissed in amusement, knowing now what she had to do. It was time to free her slaves from their coffins and contact her followers once more.

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><p><strong>So here we have it the first chapter to my first fanfic! Already a very close encounter to the world of death, expect a lot more action and monsters to come in later. Please rate and review.<strong>


	4. Chapter 2: From Ponyville With Love

**Author's notes: The following story is a My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fanfiction. MLP:FiM is owned by Hasbro and I do not own it. Please support the official release.**

**Chapter 2: From Ponyville with Love**

Twilight Sparkle trailed down the dirt path terrain which cut across the grass, followed closely behind by Shadow Thrill. Already a few minutes had past since they last left the border of the Everfree forest, and their encounter with a wild troll; Ponyville would be just over this hill now. "Here it is Shadow Thrill. Ponyville in all its glory." Shadow Thrill trotted to level alongside Twilight Sparkle, just as he had reached the peak of the hill. Down below, a fair distance away, all of Ponyville was clear in sight. This hill was almost as high as a mountain compared to the sight down there, seeing as at this current point, he could see all of Ponyville just shining in a divine bright illumination.

"You're going to love it here, I promise." Twilight Sparkle turned to Shadow Thrill and presented a warm welcoming smile as if representing a pleasant introduction to Ponyville. "It looks just grand." Shadow replied, while attempting to analyze some of the significant standing buildings. "Oh I will show you around the town when we get down there. First we have to take the path down the hills." Twilight Sparkle stepped onto the path once more, leading Shadow Thrill down through the bumpy elevations and declinations along the way. So, Shadow Thrill, he was a magic user with the ability only to manifest and reshape shadows as tangible forms. From Twilight Sparkle's knowledge, what Shadow Thrill must have done was a 'Shadow step', essentially switching to the location of where his shadow had been. Seeing as how he could control shadows with his magic, then his shadow detached from his body to a safer place, whilst he was in the cage, thus he could have easily gotten away. Interesting! Perhaps Twilight Sparkle would question Shadow on his shadow magic further, but as of now, she did not want to seem too persistent to the new pony.

* * *

><p>"Oh Opalescene what do you think of the texture? Belle époque quality or just below it?" Rarity moved in to investigate her latest work of art that happened to be a newly designed dress. Her pet cat Opalescene, who was located to be laying on one of the unused fabrics, lazily rolled her eyes to Rarity, only giving an uncaring acknowledgement. "Hmmm, perhaps a dash of sapphire trimmings?" She lost her train of thought at that moment when that ringing bell sounded to signal customers entering her shop. "Oh heavens! Welcome to the Carousel Boutique!" She turned around to provide an introduction.<p>

"My, my, my! Twilight have you been inside the Everfree forest again? " Typically, Rarity was quick to identify the mud from Twilight's hooves.

"Nice to see you too Rarity." Twilight replied sarcastically, though powerless to stop Rarity from levitating a fancy cloth and having it scrub onto Twilight's hooves.

"Twilight darling, you should really keep away from such ruffian domains. It's ju- Oh?" Rarity noticed the new figure standing just at the doorway of her boutique.

"Oh Rarity! This is Shadow Thrill, Shadow Thrill this is Rarity."

"Hey there! Pleasure to meet you, I'm Shadow Thrill!" Shadow greeted offering a hoof out, toward the white coated and purple maned pony. "Oh my! Such a well spoken accent!" Rarity took Shadow's hoof and delicately shaked. "And so well mannered too! Fantastic, I've been needing a new male model to try out some of the suits I want to design! Oh and onyx would look just perfect for you!" She grabbed Shadow onto a middle platform located in the middle of the room.

"Model?" Shadow specified in discomfort, believing himself to not be the best suitable candidate for that role. "Are you sure?" He turned his head to Twilight for help.

Shadow grew nervous as Rarity stepped out with an onyx filled tuxedo. "Shadow Thrill this tuxedo would look just lovely on you. Maybe a saddle to go along with it?"

"Rarity, it's lovely to offer our new friend a makeover. However, we have a lot to do today." Twilight pulled Shadow back and gave Rarity an uneasy smile, trying to save Shadow from a long spontaneous dress up session with Rarity. "Oh what a bother!" Rarity admitted in disappointment. "Well Shadow, I shall expect to see you back soon to make you that elegant look which shall fit perfectly with your behaviour."

"Sure. " Shadow cheerfully responded, more so cheerful in that he was saved from a dress up game. "So where did you come from Shadow?" Rarity asked. "Academia." Shadow replied. "The city of scholarship" Twilight added, giving Academia its motto. "Oh Academia! Such a classy and wealthy city." Rarity had naturally heard of it before, seeing how it was well known for it tight upper class population that show off their money by decorating their buildings with fancy architecture. "My grandmother came from there." She included.

"Well I'm glad you two get on so well." Twilight smiled. "But we had better leave you now Rarity, until next time of course."

"Certainly! It would be fabulous to see you at the party darling, I would love to get to know you a lot more." Rarity approached Shadow and gave her iconic charming face, fluttering her eyelashes. Definitely not to flirt with Shadow Thrill, more so to give him a good first impression, after all, Rarity wanted this new pony to have Rarity on the top of his list." Shadow reddened as the charming Rarity drew in closer.

"Eheh and I'm sure you two will have a lot to talk about at the party." Twilight, dragged Shadow outside along with her. "Ermm cheerio miss Rarity!" Shadow waved a hoof goodbye, still nervous from a close encounter. Rarity cheerfully waving goodbye with a pleasant smile.

"So Twilight, what did Rarity mean by 'party'?"

"Oh you'll find out once you meet Pinkie Pie. It's compulsory that she has to have a party for every pony in town." She explained rolling her eyes. Naturally "Who is Pinkie Pie" was followed by that statement. Though Twilight knew the best solution to his query was to show him who Pinkie Pie was, rather than tell him.

* * *

><p>The door of Sugarcube corner swung open, the cool air breezed in as well as Twilight Sparkle, followed closely behind by Shadow Thrill. The interior view of Sugarcube corner was indeed literally sweet. Candy and cakes all around, with hypnotic colours that grasped Shadow's gaze, it was as if he never wanted to leave the inside because the sugar and colour traps just made him feel like he wanted to stay here. Yes it was a sugar tooth paradise. A treat to your taste buds and eye candy. It also made a great difference from many ponies outside, who stopped to stare at Shadow Thrill. Yes it was difficult for someone as sinister and malicious looking like him to make friends with a black coat, red mane plus tail and a bat for a cutie mark, then again he had long expected it.<p>

"Twilight!" A voice came from behind the counter. Out jumped a pink coated pony with bubbly wild pink hair and party balloons for her cutie mark.

"And this is Pinki-" Twilight was interrupted by pinkie Pie's voice once more.

"Oh Twilight, I'm so glad you decided to drop by! I was here all by myself wondering 'Hmmmm where is everyone?' and then you suddenly showed up. Which is great because Mr and Mrs. Cake are out, I don't know having a date or something, so they left me in charge. So here I am and I obviously can't have much fun without my friends. And don't get me wrong because being surrounded by cakes is great and a-" At that point, Pinkie Pie's eyes rolled ever so slightly to the left to reveal a new pony in her sight. Dark black, dark red mane, crimson eyes, unicorn! The energetic pink pony gasped in amazement! "Oh my gosh! A new pony who I do not know!" As if it were magic, she jumped up in the air, letting out another gasp and in mid-air, she rushed off behind the counter to head upstairs. "And this is Pinkie Pie." Twilight introduced the confused Shadow to the random pony.

In a flashy entrance, Pinkie Pie returned and dashed straight toward Twilight and Shadow. All momentum stopped as she now appeared in front of them before they could even comprehend her entrance. On her head was a cone shaped party hat, in her teeth were colourful balloons and out of nowhere, small multi-coloured party streamers trailed behind her. "So hi! I'm Pinkie Pie and I see your new in town, which means that you must not have many friends! That means that I have to get to know you now and host a wonderful spectacular party for you!" She giggled while jumping up and down in joy. "Isn't this exciting?" She asked, pressing her nose up against Shadow Thrill's.

On the other hoof, Shadow was dazed and disoriented, trying to comprehend what Pinkie Pie had been saying. In took him time to gather up what Pinkie pie had pursued him over. "Oh… sure it's grand?" Shadow replied, unsure on what to say. Was a party really necessary for a new arriving pony? Nevertheless, it was easy to detect a lack of enthusiasm and scepticism in Shadow's voice. Pinkie Pie retracted her head and gasped once more. "Just grand? It's going to be the best party yet! What's wrong? Have you never been to a party before?" Pinkie stared intensly at Shadow, Twilight joined in, and awaiting Shadow Thrill's reaction. Shadow just lowered his head down to stare at the ground for a while. "No." Other than a small family birthday blow-out-the-candles session on his anniversary of birth, Shadow Thrill had the lifestyle of studying now and party when there was time. In Academia, no one had time. It was education, education, education.

"Well don't you worry yourself." Pinkie Pie stated, moving her head in closer to his once again. "Your dear friend Pinkie Pie is going to throw you the first bestest best party ever! It will be a surprise party so forget I said anything! And oh look at that, twilight Sparkle is here to take you to some places before something special starts this evening. Oh I do not know what it could be!" With her two front hooves, she began to push Shadow and Twilight out the door.

"It was nice meeting you." Shadow said, just as he was pushed outside. "Oh, and to you too." She said, in her usual joyful energetic and hyperactive tone. "That's Pinkie Pie for you." Twilight reassured Shadow. "Oh and psssst, Twilight." Pinkie Pie whispered. "Keep Shadow distracted until tonight. Remember, it's a surprise!" Not that Shadow was eavesdropping but Pinkie Pie spoke barely at the level of a volume of a whisper. At that, pinkie Pie slammed the door behind them to prepare for the party she would throw for Shadow. Shadow Thrill looked back at Twilight, who smiled back at him. "And now you've made a friend for life." Shadow smiles back at Twilight, reflecting upon Pinkie Pie's hyperactive yet considerably social attitude. "Well, I look forward to seeing her at the party." He proudly stated, shaking off all confusion he had before.

"Oh which reminds me…. Shadow do you think you can see the next pony on your own? I had better find you a… place to stay."

"A place to stay?" Shadow said all too confused.

"Well we will have to discuss that. After all, we can't have you here without a place to stay." Twilight smiled and nudged him from behind toward a western direction. "Keep heading west and you'll come to a place called Sweet AppleAcres. You'll see the next pony I want you to meet there. Don't worry she's an honest and caring pony. You shall get along just fine with her."

* * *

><p>To the front of the farm, a huge red barn which appeared to be modified to become a suitable house for ponies to live in, with an old wild western agricultural architect. A few other smaller red barns were located to the side and a few fields to the other side of the main big red barn. Behind this was the land, where many orchards of apples flooded their private land.<p>

"So why am I he-"

"Yeeeeehaaaa!" The sudden voice startled Shadow Thrill in mid sentence. Shadow turned his head over to the orchard fields near the barn. An orange coated pony with long blood hair and green eyes galloped out the barn. On her head rested a large cowboy hat, or in this case a cowgirl' and on her side, three apples for her cutie mark. "Come along now Fluttershy! Those apples ain't gonna tend to themselves." She galloped into the swarm of trees.

"Oh I ermm... I'll catch up with you." A rather timid voice came from inside the barn.

Well seeing as the other pony had galloped away, Shadow presumed that the easiest pony to meet now in this situation would be in the barn. Shadow trotted over, creaking the front bar door open and taking a gander inside. "Hello?" Shadow greeted, stepping inside and looking around. Empty! Nothing of interest in here. No sign of any life. Funny, he could have sword he heard a reply from inside this barn. With a few ganders around every corner of the barn he reached no avail. Shadow turned around, ready to trot out the barn; that was until he heard a squeak. "H-hello?" Shadow announced again, looking back into the barn. He concentrated, refusing to leave, taking time to focus on his hearing sense perception. A rustling sound was made from the stack of hay! As Shadow slowly drew in closer, another squeak sounded from the hay stack.

"P-please, don't come any closer." That timid voice came from the hay stack, just before a pony trotted out to reveal a pink maned pegasi pony with a pale yellow coat, edging away from Shadow. "Hey there. I'm not going to hurt you." Shadow gave her a wide and warm smile. "My name is Shadow Thrill! Pleased to meet you!" She took a glance at Shadow Thrill, unable to feel intimidated from his black and red combination of colours. Instantaneously, her head tilted downwards to avoid eye contact with the new pony. "You… you shouldn't be hear… please leave… if that's ermmm okay…"

Shadow withdrew his hoof and placed it back on the ground, somewhat confused. Shadow he got the idea that Fluttershy was a quiet type… a very quiet type…. "But ermmm my friend told me to come here and meet a new pony." Shadow insisted. "Yo-you're probably looking for Applejack. Oh but you're not going to do anything.. b-bad are you?" Fluttershy had edged all the way back to the end of the barn. Shadow blinked. "No. I just want to greet her is all." Shadow turned around to open up the barn yard door wider, letting in some sun light to illuminate the warm. "I didn't mean to cause any incon-"

"Oh is that a bat!" She announced, much louder than before, as she trotted away from her comfort zone. "My-my name is Fluttershy and I would like to say that is a cute bat Shadow Thrill. May I ask how you got it?" Well that certainly was a relief. Fluttershy seemed to have her head back up now and intrigued by Shadow's animal for a cutie mark. "Oh this bat? Well you see, it's a shadow bat. I like to manifest bats you see." Shadow Thrill answered her query. "I can do Shadow magic you see!"Shadow's choice of words would be his grave mistake. "Shadow magic eeeeeeep!" Fluttershy squeaked in great surprise and fear and she shot back to the wall, trembling in fear from Shadow. "Hey, m-miss. Are you okay? Was it something I said?" Shadow took one hoof in front and in a reaction, Fluttershy's eyes came to a close as she collapsed to the side in a faint.

"Oh no! No, no, no, no,no!" Shadow panicked, rushing to Fluttershy and lifting her up with his hooves. "What do I do! What do I do!" Shadow yelled to himself, sharply turning his head around for any means to the fainted Fluttershy up. "Fluttershy! Please wake up!" Shadow poked her cheek with his hoof, though Fluttershy made no attempt at waking up. "Well gosh! What's all the commotion in here sugarcube?" A southern accent was heard as the blonde, orange pony stepped into the barn, now wide eyed to see a sinister black coated colt, holding an unconscious Fluttershy in his hooves.

"Now look I can explain." Shadow insisted softly. "What in tarnations? Let go of her right now!" Applejack snapped, reaching out for a lasso rope and hurled it around her, then releasing its grip and having the rope bind Shadow by his neck before giving him a chance to reply. "What the hay are you doing in mah barn you posh speakin' scarypony!" Applejack demanded to know, dragging Shadow to her and stepping over his chest with her hoof. "Honestly, I didn't mean to! It was a mistake! All I did was say that I had shadow magic and-"

"Shadow magic!" Applejack exclaimed with utmost distrust. "Aint no shadow magic pony going to come into my barn and use them evil spells."

"Look I'm sorry I didn't mean to cause any harm. Please, can I just-"

"Nope!" Applejack ignored Shadow's plead with mistrust, proceeding to hogtie him up. "Ya'll stay here until I wake Fluttershy up! Then I'll get some more information out of ya." Applejack mounted Fluttershy on her back and walked out the barn, leaving a desperate and struggling Shadow behind.

* * *

><p>"What in Equestria happened here?" Twilight gasped upon the sight of Shadow wriggling out of the barn, having trailed toward the front entrance of the farm. "Twilight Sparkle! Oh thank goodness you've come!" He desperately exclaimed, worming his way toward Twilight. "Okay judging from the rope I would say Applejack tied you up. Maybe it was not such a good idea to have let you come on your own." Twilight admitted, using her magic to animate the rope and have it slide off Shadow. The now free Shadow got up and brushed off the dust from his coat.<p>

"Twi! Watch out! That scarypony used some kinda shadow magic on Fluttershy and knocked her unconscious!" Their attentions turned to Applejack who galloped just into scene with a cowering Fluttershy slowly trotting behind, taking her place behind Applejack. "Shadow? Is this true?" Twilight gazed at him. "N-no! I-I was just telling Fluttershy about my cutie mark, the shadow bat-"

"See I knew he was a dodgy one. That magic is villainous." Applejack interfered as Fluttershy took cover behind Applejack, trying to conceal herself completely.

"Ponies, ponies relax. Shadow is with me, and he's not a villain Applejack… he's a friend."

"A friend?" Applejack and Fluttershy repeated in unison with concern.

"Mhmmm that's right. Shadow magic is a rare type of magic that had been banned long ago when it was much more common and ill practiced for black magic. Though now shadow magic is much more rare and very few ponies can use it. I know Shadow enough to know that he has a good heart." Twilight confirmed it to her friends. "Well…" Fluttershy emerged from Applejack's cover, facing down on the ground with guilt and lightly scraping the ground with a hoof. "I… I didn't mean to faint… I was just scared… I.. I'm sorry." Fluttershy said, all too timid, trying to hide her face behind her flowing pink mane. "Hey that's okay! I'm sorry too; I was quick to jump into such a sceptical chat." Shadow replied with a smile. "Well I guess I owe my apologise too scarypony." Applejack gave Shadow a playful nudge with her hoof. "Gee if you're a friend of Twilight's then you're a friend of ours! Group hug for our new friend!" Applejack immediately wrapped her hooves around Twilight and Fluttershy, bringing them both to the centre with her and Shadow, all engaging in a group hug. "Heh, thank you! It's an honour to be among all of you!" Shadow said overjoyed as each participant gave a loving smile to be with a new friend in this circle of friendship.

* * *

><p>"So who else are we meeting next Twilight?"<p>

"Oh don't worry, we will be finding her soon." Twilight looked up to see a shooting rainbow-like figure rocketing through the sky above them. "Well, she will find us soon." She added. Shadow joined Twilight in looking up at the sky, letting out a small 'hmm?' He too was able to see the rainbow changing its course of direction, heading toward him and Twilight at full speed.

"Whoooooo!" A gust of wind blew against Shadow and Twilight, their manes blowing back from the strong wind that was created. A short rainbow wave was present for a split second, vanishing away quickly, dematerialising into mere particles. The wind formed had been so strong that Shadow and twilight's mane were now messy and wild, despite Shadow's mane had already been wild and unorganised, though now it just looked ever so slightly more chaotic than it was before. Twilight's mane was no longer straight, but spiked up to the side. "Heya Twi!" Rainbow Dash turned around to face the other ponies, now with her hooves landed onto the ground. The pale cyan coated, and rainbow coloured mane and tailed Pegasus pony stepped forward to the others. She first took note of a new pony she had never seen before, black coat and a dark red mane, a bat cutie mark. "You look pretty cool newcomer!" She greeted him.

"Rainbow Dash this is Shadow Thrill. Shadow Thrill this is Rainbow Dash." Twilight broke the barriers once more.

Rainbow Dash snickered upon first glance of Twilight Sparkle's mane, which was now spiked to one side. Twilight gave a disappointed look, and more so disappointed that she was the only one who looked crazy, unlike Shadow Thrill who already had a messy long mane. "Pleased to meet you" Shadow Thrill opened, holding out a hoof for a hoof-shake. "I loved your speedy entrance." Rainbow Dash's eyes sparkled over the compliment. A stranger pony she had never met before had just noticed her impressive speed! Well duh, of course she was the fastest flyer in all of Ponyville No, Equestria! "Oh you think?" She asked, taking Shadow's hoof and shaking it, spreading out her wings and using them to hover just above him, still gripping onto his hoof. "Well I am the best flyer around. Twilight can even account when I cleared out the sky in 10 seconds flat!" Shadow turned to glance at Twilight, who smiled back and nodded, confirming Rainbow Dash's claim.

"Wow that's so cool!" Shadow Thrill opened out, looking up at Rainbow Dash with stars in his own eyes. "You're really the best flyer around?" Excitement and enthusiasm overcame Shadow. "Yep! And if you want, we can hang out sometime and I'll show you all my outstanding moves and techniques!" She bragged, flapping her wings to show off some more. Shadow, fell right into Rainbow Dash's gloat and instantly felt as if Rainbow Dash was truly an omnipotent pony. Twilight shook her head a little, he was only bound to feed Rainbow Dash's arrogance, but at least they were both having fun. "That would be splendid! Wow you are so cool Rainbow Dash!" Shadow stated with sheer ravishment. "Thanks. You're a pretty cool looking pony yourself. I like your little bat." She complimented him, making Shadow Thrill feel satisfied to have a compliment from an awesome Pegasus.

"So where did you find this new pony anyway?" She asked Twilight, hovering toward her.

"I found him in the Everfree forest. The poor pony was lost though he is a traveller of sorts. So I thought I would take him back to Ponyville to have him settle down here." Twilight explained.

"Well I could never leave a new pony here hanging." Rainbow Dash insisted, "How about we take him to the others and get him some new friends? I'm sure Pinkie Pie is already planning a party." Rainbow laid her body out flat in mid air, bringing her front hooves behind her to rest her head, still flying, while she entered her resting position.

"All taken care of Rainbow Dash. Shadow has met the entire mane six at least." Twilight chuckled. "And hey, don't you have to clear the sky out before dark?"

"Ahh I'll get to it later." She rebelled and flew out of her lazy position back onto the ground. "Well tell me why you were in Everfree forest? What happened there?" She asked Shadow and Twilight. Looking as if Rainbow Dash was going to tag along with them to meet Rarity, Twilight accepted this. After all, they all seemed to get along together really well. Shadow simply grinned at Twilight, who knew exactly what had happened. "Well Twilight. Would you like to start the story off?" Shadow invited.

"Very well." Twilight started, taking in a deep breath before moving onto telling the story of how she and Shadow first met in the Everfree forest. All ponies started to move forward along the path, the next destination to be was the Everfree manor.

* * *

><p>"This is so amazing! A little bit shabby but can be fixed up!" Shadow's voice raised in excitement. Circling the rather large and run down house, Shadow trotted around a complete 360 degrees, examining the gothic styled architecture made of grey brick, gazing at it up and down. The abandoned house must have been at least three stories tall, and suitable enough to be converted into a perfect home once more. Located just in the outskirts border between the Everfree forest and Ponyville and nothing like the one from his old home, this was like living in a gothic old styled piece of art. "Well I suppose it will have to do…" Rarity mumbled once more, obviously the run down abandoned house was not to her taste. "It looks fine to me!" Rainbow Dash spoke, supporting Shadow's decision. With him, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy had all come along with Shadow Thrill to observe him settle into his new accommodation.<p>

"But I don't understand Twilight! How did you know I would love this?" Shadow asked with sheer excitement.

"Heh, well you ain't a scary pony for nothing. With a bat like that we thought you would like a little something on the… Classic horror themed side." Applejack responded.

"Exactly! Let's take a look inside shall we?" Twilight requested, placing a hoof on the door.

With that, Shadow Thrill placed a hoof on the door and applied force to swing it open from its hinges. As expected, the old door creaked open, the darkness filled the atmosphere and it was a building you would expect for dust and cobwebs to fill up every corner of the rooms. In all honesty, it seemed like a dull grey bricked building with a crumbling gothic architect.

"**SURPRISE!"**

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><p><strong>Well that's a winter wrap up! It's been much harder to get into character with these main ponies than I originally thought. Do not worry; Spike will be in it too. First fanfic means it's the first time getting into character. Naturally a rate and review with a suggestion to help me improve with be lovely. Now that the introductions to the characters are over, the evil can really envelope. This story is expected to become really grim and dark in due time.<strong>


	5. Chapter 3: Auld Lang Syne

**Author's notes: The following story is a My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fanfiction. MLP:FiM is owned by Hasbro and I do not own it. Please support the official release.**

**Chapter 3: Auld Lang Syne**

The party Pinkie Pie threw for Shadow Thrill moved on into the night. From a dusty old dark house, Pinkie Pie had done an impressive job at converting it into a colourful room with party decorations and accessories everywhere. Applejack had even chipped in a lot and supplies edible apple food to balance out the sugar filled cakes Pinkie Pie made. As usual, many games were provided, many ponies turned up to greet Shadow Thrill, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash played comical pranks, DJ-Pon3 scratched those records and a large cake arrived onto the table. The party truly was a great success, as Shadow Thrill perhaps had the best moment of his life, now realising what it truly was like to have a party in his honour. And with a new pony in Ponyville, that of course, was a good reason to celebrate.

"I'm so super glad that you're enjoying the party!" Pinkie said in her usual hyperactive, fast paced tone, moving in closer to Shadow who was sitting at the table. "Now you'll never walk alone again! Oh it's so exciting that you're going to stay with us in Ponyville!" Pinkie Pie flourished with glee.

"Hah. And thank you for the best party ever Pinkie, now I see what they mean when they say you are the funnest pony to be around with." Shadow chuckled. Pinkie Pie raised her head triumphantly. "Heya Shadow!" Rainbow Dash entered the seating area. "What made you come out all the way here to Ponyville anyway? I thought Academia was cool and all?" She continued.

"Oh and Shadow, may I please inquire to know about how you got your cutie mark? Oh, if that's okay?…" Fluttershy came in and asked nervously yet keeping a polite manner. A few ponies started to crowd around, Applejack, Rarity and Twilight Sparkle included, curious to know of Shadow Thrill's origins.

Mixed emotions came to his mind when he thought back to the time of what made him want to leave intense education and take a raft out to see the mainland's of Equestria. Every now and then, he would think back to the time of how it all began. It was all the happiest moment of his life, the scariest moment of his life, and the saddest moment of his life. More importantly he had to thank those combination of feelings, for if he had never went through them, he would probably never reach where he is today, surrounded by friends. Those times were where his dream began. "Well then, let me tell you about it…." As he opened up with the first statement of his history, the six mane ponies drew in closer to hear him out, ready to paint a mental picture along the way.

"Oh Oh! Will you tell us how you got your cutie mark too?" A petite voice came from below. Looking down, there was Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo; all curious to hear out the story of a cutie mark as they had done with countless other ponies. "Applebloom! What are your little hooves doing here at this time of night?" Applejack firmly asked being the authoritive older sister. "Oh let them stay! Everpony has been invited for this special occasion." Pinkie Pie stepped in, joyfully attempting to let Applejack make an exception. "Oh fine!" The cutie mark crusaders united in a joyful "Hooray!" also stepping in now to hear out Shadow's story.

* * *

><p>A bell sounded three times from a clocktower, towering over the government building, the parliament of Academia. The buildings of Academia made of brick and stone, what looked like Georgian architecture. The sky was filled with different shadings of white, depending on what cloud. Though Pegasus ponies often patched up, what could have been a clear blue sky, with only white clouds that had to cover the island of Ponytannia, including its capital being Academia. The city was huge, and surrounding the city parliament and clocktower, the famous schooling academies were located around, to the north, south, east and west of the parliament. The city itself prospered with a great economy, living standards were high and the population were only that of wealthy upper class backgrounds. The city busted full of life as ponies had no time to stop and converse, there was only time for work and more work at home. Occasionally an external discussion of philosophy, science, magic, politics or the outside world, something they all merely reflected upon.<p>

Money talks when sending your fillies and colts to receive a good education, then they grow up and have the brains to make more money for themselves, spending it for their own fillies and colts to make money. Naturally, Shadow Thrill was the right candidate for only the finest school in Equestria and only the finest school in Academia, bound to thus earn the most money when in competition with the other ponies. "Advanced calculus; Foreign policy in the Grim Wars; Magic and metaphysics." An emotionless voice listed from a piece of paper with his homework schedule for today. A black coated small pony, with formal mid-length black hair for a mane returned to the streets from intense studying at school. This little colt only had the colour of red crimson eyes that stood out in contrast to his dark black looks. A zombie, like all others, only required to study in school during the morning before returning home to study in the night. This little colt is Shadow Thrill.

With that schedule in mind. He returned back to a large brick house, elegant in fame and fortune, glorious with gold trimmings and a few marble rock columns to support the structure. Trotting up into his room, Shadow sat himself down at his desk, without any rest, it was straight back to work and starting with advanced Calculus.

"Hey Shadow." A call for attention came from just outside his room, in the hallway. Shadow turned away from his work, looking back at the elder unicorn colt. Roughly two years older than him and in his border age of becoming a full stallion, his brother stood outside. A pale snow white coat, a long and straight black mane and three autumn leaves for a cutie mark. "Ah, Autumn, what is it?" Shadow smiles lightly, happy to see his brother again. "Put your work down for a second Shadow. You'll never guess what I found today!" His brother Autumn answered excitedly. He was so close to his teenage years now. True, Autumn had always gone through the studying Shadow had himself, even further, however, these days he was more….. Free spirited in nature. He never wanted to be dwelled into the books like he had been before, like Shadow was now. "I don't know Autumn. I have a lot of work to d-"

"Forget that!" Autumn interrupted, insisting that he be heard. "As your older brother, I want you to come and see this for yourself." He proclaimed "Trust me. You will love it." He added. A few seconds past as Shadow thought on this, whatever it was, Autumn seemed to be hindering with the topic mysteriously, perhaps it was truly important. "Very well. I'll take a quick look." Shadow gave in and walked up to Autumn, who was already heading downstairs. "Like I said. I guarantee you are going to love it." Autumn triumphantly assured in victory at having convinced his little brother to come along. Maybe if Shadow takes a sight at this wonder he found, perhaps it will open his eyes to the start of a world around him…

"We've been trotting for ages. How much further is it?" Shadow complained. "Shutup and quit your whining." His brother responded, though in a cheerful tone, quite opposite in allowing his little brother to annoy him. "We're almost there now anyway." He took a comforting stance. Autumn led his brother through a labyrinth of buildings, eventually cutting through a particular alley way., around a corner and… "A meadow!"

In Academia, the only ground you could ever walk upon was a concrete street. A very modernised city, with a road for wagons in the centre, and only pavement to the sides. Rock was about all your hooves could touch when you lived in Academia. Never before had Shadow Thrill ever stepped hoof on grassland before. Just at the end of this alley, it was almost magical to behold a sea of green grass. It stretched out, far into a number of trees, though buildings were visible at the end of the field. The whole thing had to be the size of… a football pitch maybe? Shadow took a hoof onto the grass; it almost felt like it tickled. It was so soft, so comforting. Gradually, he took a few steps in. "Stop being such a wuss and get on the field already!" His brother called out, already dashing forward onto the grass.

This was so different to the concrete he had been walking on his whole life! Shadow slowly trotted forward to where his elder brother was, standing beside an apple tree in the middle of the field. Walking on a field of green grass for the first time, this almost seem way too magical; he had merely only read about grass fields be it in biology or geography. For the first time, what he had learnt was what he was experiencing now. Even the tree! All of the trees life properties, the equation of photosynthesis, its cellular structure, its growth were all applied to the apple tree that was surrounded by grass. Yes he had seen artificial trees on the streets before that were grown the way ponies wanted it, but this one was different, it was wild and untamed by civilisation. "Well go on Mr. Star pupil. Show me what you can do with all that knowledge inside your head. Use it to pick out an apple."Autumn challenged his brother, using his magic to snap off an apple from one of the branches and levitate it toward him in an act of telekinesis; his unicorn horn illuminated a dark purple colour as he did so.

A current of competitive nature struck through Shadow, determined to do better than his older brother Autumn. Shadow crouched in slightly lower, placing his right front hoof forward to get into his signature competitive stance. His little colt horn began to glow a similar dark purple colour similar to his brothers. "Just you watch!" Shadow's very own two dimensional shadow gained a wavy movement throughout its body, before it detached itself from Shadow Thrill's body. From hooves to hooves, the shadow gained liberty and broke away. With an intense concentration from Shadow Thrill, the shadow slowly rose out of its two dimensional restriction, rising as a tangible black shape with particles of solid matter. A small sphere broke away from the main body of the shadow, before the main shadow body slowly collapsed back down into the ground as a regular shadow. This now black and purple outlined shadow sphere was all the unicorn colt needed. Quickly the floating shadow sphere grew small bat-wings along with purple eyes and a mouth, with the black fangs visible. "Hah! What an odd looking bat." Autumn giggled having Shadow Thrill thrown off slightly after he had shown to put a struggle at making just one.

"Shush! Now behold the power of umbra!" Shadow looked to his bat dead in the eye. "Retrieve the apple for me." He commanded his conjured Shadow bat to do. Doing as Shadow requested, the bat fluttered its wings and flew up onto the branch where the apples hung. The bat let out a playful yet ghastly snicker, before deciding to grip the apple with its fangs, landing down on the floor besides Shadow Thrill and eating it for itself. Autumn merely laughed aloud, watching Shadow Thrill grit his teeth over his not so controlled shadow bat.

"You see Shadow; you have all that information in your head up there. But all you have is theory; you never practiced your own magic for yourself." Autumn lectured his brother, who had only responded with a stubborn scold. Autumn on the other hand, assumed responsibility as an older brother to Shadow, feeling it necessary to teach him the value of life experience. "I use to be a lot like you at your age Shadow. Stuck inside the books everyday, I hope you realise that there is a life outside text books and studying." Shadow grew more irritated by the second, eventually mumbling "Don't patronize me just because you are older." At that point, Shadow's bat once again fell back down to the ground to become an ordinary shadow, locking itself with Shadow's body once more.

"Well I tried. Enjoy studying the books all your life and never enhancing the magic you already have with the world that's right under your nose." Autumn said simplistically, happily shrugging off Shadow's attitude. With that, Autumn trotted away from the tree, most likely heading back home, though Shadow didn't care to know. Right now, Shadow was more concerned with that apple tree. With the slight feeling of doubt inside of him, maybe his brother was right. This meadow had an almost magical feel to it that he had never experienced before. There was a great world out there, that's for sure, and this meadow was an analogical window of the world out there. Again he would make another attempt at using his shadow magic to get an apple from this apple tree! Again he would fail! For the next few weeks, Shadow would return to this grass field everyday. Not only did it give him a feeling of relaxation and comfort, but to him it symbolised that even in the grimmest place, there can still be something nice growing within. It was a demo sighting a fabulous world out there that he gradually longed to see. And every time he returned, he practiced his shadow abilities, trying to do better than his first attempt.

* * *

><p>Day by day; one bat turned into two bats turned into multiples of bats. Eventually Shadow Thrill could conjure up a swarm of bats, all tightly under his control being shadows they are. The shadow bats chewed down the thin and thick branches of the apple tree, dropping them down for Shadow Thrill's consumption. "This is the best apple I tasted yet!" Shadow Thrill exclaimed to himself in a jolly mood, chewing one of the many dropped apples thanks to his bats. It seemed irrational at first, but deep down, Shadow Thrill enjoyed to make bats with the shadows he controlled. Typically a unicorn pony could cast domestic spells to help her around. Shadow was unable to do that, though he could now use his own shadow magic to make temporary shadow bats which acted as his magical aid. As Shadow Thrill chewed on his apple, the bat swarm he made, consisting of around ten bats, fell back to the ground as normal shadows again, attaching themselves to Shadow Thrill's shadow.<p>

As Shadow happily chewed, a strange feeling came upon his flank. At last! There it was! His very own cutie mark! Upon closer inspection on the side of his flank, there was the mark of a bat. A shadow bat with purple outlining, purple eyes and a purple mouth, it looked just like the bats he could make! "Yes! I got my cutie mark!" He jumped for joy, shaking his little colt legs in the air. Wait until he showed everyone! A bat for a cutie mark! So his talent had something to do with his shadow magic! Awesome! Instantly Shadow Thrill took great pride on his newly formed cutie mark, the symbol of accomplishment that he had found his talent and it was all thanks to this field which gave him the space and out worldly feeling to train up his magic.

"Enjoying yourself, young colt?" A voice called out toward Shadow Thrill.

"Oh very much so!" Shadow said pleasantly, before realising that the voice was not his brother's and only his brother knew about this field! "Wait, who is that?" Shadow turned around to witness an adult Pegasus pony. His coat was coloured dark blue; his mane and tail were semi-long like Shadow Thrill's but scruffy and untidy, coloured in dark red. A black cloak was wrapped dressed on his body. His eye colour was black, staring right back into the crimson eyed colt.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Shadow stated defensively talking to this newcomer no lesser than if he were a standard citizen of Academia. Though the stranger simply replied with a warm smile, evident that he had no threatening intentions. To Shadow he seemed familiar, as if he had seen this pony before maybe? "Shadow magic? Now there is something that I do not see on my travels everyday."

His presence made Shadow Thrill already feel less hostile, though that does not mean he still had a lot of patients. He had not yet answered the question and dropped it as if it like a classic politician dodge. "You still have not answered me yet! Who are you and what are you doing here?"

"I use to come here all the time, this is where it all began for me." The stranger pony simply replied, taking a slow gander at the field just as he remembered it. Every time he spoke Shadow has that irrational feeling that he knew this person. What was he talking about? Why had he such an unusual mane with a black cloak over his body? The feeling became too overwhelming, like he could really sense an aura emitting from him as if he had known him. "Who are you?" Shadow bursted, the first question to arise out of his mouth from a series he had in his mind. "Me? I am Ace. Flying Ace."

It was as if Shadow had been hit with bricks. That name! He knew that name before! And all of a sudden this pony…Ace... had a strong quality suggesting the presence of divinity. Like everypony with Princess Celestia. A numinous feeling without a religious property! Shadow Thrill only looked back up at Flying Ace, speechless. The pony that had travelled around the world, even to have gone outside Equestria. The fastest flyer in the world! The pony who had overcome many ferocious obstacles in his adventures with his friends! The pony whose stories were not written down into books to illustrate his life adventures. Here in this meadow with Shadow Thrill! Ace looked down at the colt, placing a hoof on his mane and scuffling it up playfully. "You know, this is where my travelling life all began when I was your age. When I came from the mainland of Equestria to this island. This here meadow." He gave a reflecting look around the meadow and once more turned down at Shadow Thrill who simply looked back at him in awe. This smallish meadow here, was where the infamous Flying Ace made regular visits as a colt, like Shadow was now doing. This field gave Ace the inspiration he wanted to go out and see the world, to experience life directly at first hoof, the same feeling Shadow had gained from this meadow.

* * *

><p>A sound of drunken laughter and entertainment filled the atmosphere at the inn of Galloping Pony. Ponies sat around tables and at the bar, socialising, playing card games, sipping their drinks, telling stories and jokes. As with any jolly old inn, you would find a musician pony, playing music. In this case a pony who performed magnificently on the piano, filling the room with a western tavern styled melody. To Shadow Thrill this had been the most wondrous feeling ever. The musician of Ace's own group was actually playing music in this inn! And around the inn, other key members of Ace's group who had been in his stories were located in this inn. Best of all, this little colt Shadow Thrill was allowed to stay in this inn. Although it was only for adult ponies, the bartender felt it an exception for Shadow to be able to stay seeing as he was with Ace. Never had Shadow seen so much laughing, singing, excitement and enjoyment all in one room of mixed feelings. "And so it was all thanks to this song that we were able to end the hard feeling for that one day on Hearth's Warming Eve, both Equestrian ponies and Ponytannia ponies were able to share their magic of friendship together." Ace finished his story which had enthralled Shadow Thrill so much. The colt stared up at his idol Ace, listening to his stories for ages now. Ace took a quick swing at his drink before adding. "Oh and your song really saved us back there 'Chords' otherwise we would have been caught in the middle of that fight." Ace held his mug up to Chords, granting him his credit. Chords, still playing the piano, lifted up his top hat to acknowledge Ace's conclusion and thus paying thanks.<p>

"That's so cool!" Shadow exclaimed after another riveting tale of Ace's adventure around the world. "I want to be an adventurer and see the world like you! Take me with you on your next adventure Ace!" Ace, who was taking another swing of his drink, gave Shadow Thrill a surprised look! Was he joking? No he was serious" "HAH!" Ace laughed out aloud, slamming his mug back onto the table and almost spilling it in laughter. "A little colt in this big and dangerous world? There is no way a colt like you can go out and see the world now!" He laughed out some more, catching the attention of his friends around the inn. "What? Why not?" Shadow Thrill replied sharply, irritated that Ace was insulting him. "Haha. He only just got his cutie mark." One voice called out, joking along with Shadow's claim too. "Awww he is so cute, much too adorable to be harmed by the world out there." A female pony of Ace's group patronizingly joked.

"Hey I can protect myself too! This Shadow bat means something!" Shadow defended himself.

"Does it really?" Ace asked, tending his attention back to his drink. That was a rhetorical question as he did not expect a justified answer from Shadow.

"The point is you are just a foal. You are too young to be travelling the world right now!" A pony entered the inn, resting his hoof on Ace to indicate that they were good friend. This one was from Ponytannia, the same nation Shadow was from. Nhile was his name, a long friend of Flying Ace with the role of a general attorney for the city of Academia, having prosecuted extremist fanatical criminals in Ponytannia and by his reputation he had been rather successful. A brown stallion with a black mane and tail, his cutie mark consisted of the scales of justice, perfectly balanced in line with each other. "Nhile my good friend, it's great to see you again!" Ace greeted, raising his drink to Nhile.

"And it's just spiffing to see you again Ace my friend!" Nhile replied, taking up Ace's offer in a hug and taking a seat next to him. "I couldn't help notice your little fan there." Nhile smirked over at Shadow.

"Hey don't be so angry. Stick to reading your books for now Shadow. Maybe one day you can take up an adventure like I did." Ace told Shadow, providing him with his warm smile.

"Ugh! That's easy for you to say! You're a Pegasus pony! You have wings so you can take off whenever you want! But I'll show you! I will explore the entire world with or without you!" Shadow said determined with a genuine feeling to outshine Ace, he held up his hoof in determination.

Ace, Nhile and his friends continued to laugh some more at Shadow. Not making fun of him, but joking around with his exaggerated naïve claims as he was still a child with a lot of spirit. Shadow remained sat at the bar next to Ace, and every time he had heard more of his stories, the more Shadow felt like books would never take him far enough. It was firmly rooted in his mind now that he too wanted to go out and see the world like Ace, who quickly became his idol! Ace knew full well that Shadow held this feeling and his teasing were only suppose to be those light pushes in the right direction for Shadow, building him more determination and ambition to follow his new dream of exploring the world for himself.

* * *

><p>"WHAM!" The door to the inn burst open and inside stepped a pitch black coated pony, similar to Shadow Thrill. Only she was much older, with a nasty facial expression upon first glance. "By Abyssal, the loud excitement and the emotion of happiness is so annoying." The pony muttered to herself, as she walked into the inn toward the bar. The pleasant smiles soon turned to serious faces of suspicion and the jolly drunken talks were soon silenced. A feeling of evil and hatred trailed behind her, which the other ponies grew weary of. Shadow stared at this new dark pony as she positioned herself next to the bar, besides Ace. "Ace? Flying Ace?" She snickered under her wicked voice. The positive Ace looked back at her, smiling. "Here in the flesh."<p>

"You had better get out of my sight now! You and your group of Equestrian invaders make me sick! You are hailed and showered with respect and glory from Princess Celestia. A tyrant who conquered the glorious Ponytannia empire and brought it to an Equestrian shame. This is not the only land she took! She defeated a great leader, Mistress Abyssal, and stole what should be her kingdom!" The black pony snarled at Ace, threatening him with an intimidating tone. But it was not her tone that shook the crowds. That name. 'Mistress Abyssal' Only read about in books and studied in history. That name contained all the properties of evil, giving everyone a cold feeling. For Shadow, he was much too young to understand how bad it was, even though it was before anyone's time. Still, followers of Abyssal were still scattered around the lands of Equestria, holding a deep grudge for the current rulers. As expected, this pony was a follower of Abyssal and could only treat Ace with cruel and shallow treatment.

"Listen here miss!" Nhile intervened. "Those wars were long ago and it was in our national interest to-"

"Spare me this for now Nhile." Ace interjected. "Hey look here, we may not be in a political consensus here, heck I don't even involve myself in politics much, but those differences shouldn't affect us! We're still ponies after all." Ace used his skill of diplomacy, still being as friendly as he can and smiling strong, much to Shadow's shock. Of all means, Ace continued to use diplomatic negotiations rather than spark any hostility. "Now how about we all calm down and enjoy ourselves with some drinks. It's on me." Ace added cheerfully at the black coated pony, who starred back with sheer hatred, gritting her teeth to every word he let out.

The bartender pony pulled out two drinks, sliding one for Ace and one for the black pony. "A silent time eh? No need to thank me, your enjoyment out of this drink is more than enough. Cheers!" Ace enthusiastically held his mug up to this pony.

She gave a wicked smile in return. "Sure. Drink up!" She gripped her drinking mug with one hoof, letting it go again just as Ace swung his own mug above his head, drinking up as said. At that point, Shadow Thrill's eyes twitched in horror. As if everything had slown down, a hoof was raised above Ace's head, slamming down at full force, the impact was enough for the bar counter to break from the crash of Ace's body into the wooden bar itself. Ace lay there, his torso upwards crashed and leaned against the now shattered wood that was once part of the bar counter. "Haha! You are such a pathetic pony Ace!" The female pony snarled, dropping the drink Ace brought for her onto the floor. "Bah! Kindness and generosity! That's what makes you weak! This world is about survival, not buying drinks for your enemies! Don't you dare take me so lightly!" The black female pony raged on, her hate and dark heart emitting itself in front of the inn. Ace merely lay there, still leaned against the bar, a blank emotion in his face as he looked down onto the ground. Shadow was unable to tell what Ace was thinking or what he was feeling, but would this be it now? Is this confrontation going to display his heroic status and achieve him victory?

A pause filled the room as no one else dared to move. Ace remained silent and still, constantly gazing down at the floor. The evil pony waited for the legendary red-maned Ace to open up at least some form of attack from this humiliation. Nothing! "I knew you were useless!" She spat out, before trotting out of the inn, fed up with wasting any more of her time with these pathetic ponies who only love and tolerate. Shadow Thrill stared at the black coated pony in horror as she left, now sceptical on believing that Ace would do something before she gets away.

He did nothing!

"Jolly grand display at making friends Ace." Nhile opened with a sarcastic joke, all ponies but Shadow responding with laughter….including Ace.

"What! How! How could you just take all that and laugh!" Shadow's yell filled the pub. The laughter was killed off as the crowd now had their attention on Shadow. "How could you just take that brutal attack as a joke!"

Ace blinked, picking himself up from the crashed bar. "Shadow. You're young and you still have a long life ahead of you. Sometimes you'll find that some battles are meaningless. Some battles are just not worth fighting and when you can recognize that, that is when you come out the victor."

"Sometimes you just need to laugh it off dear colt." Nhile spoke. "But don't worry, she will be reported to the proper autho-"

"No!" Shadow rejected all reasoning they had. "You didn't stand up for your honour Ace, you just backed down right away like a coward! Well you know what I've had it! I'm going to do what you should have done Ace!"

"Shadow? You silly foal, what in Equestria are you talking about!" Ace responded with irritation.

"You heard me! I'm going to go and tell that pony that she cannot mess with Flying Ace! You're a hero and I should expect you to live up to your role!" Immediately after his sentence, Shadow galloped to the exit, bursting through the doors, not looking back to the ponies he had left behind, ignoring all calls for him to return.

* * *

><p>The 'Grim Wars' was an event in history that played both a triumphant victorious story and a depressing failure of a story. Ten years ago, after the colonies of the Ponytannia empire joined with Equestria under Princess Celestia, the democratic government, believing their rule to be right and just, declared war on Equestria. For four years a series of battles took place in the North West coast of Equestria, its seas and the island of Ponytannia. That's how it got its name, because the series of campaigns were a grim four years. An attempt to regain their former colonies and much more of Equestria failed, with only a few successful pushes. All glory and high spirits the ponies of Ponytannia had were completely diminished. Reactions were several thousands of ponies left in sheer shock, leading to a completely demoralized nation. A war which they believed to have a guaranteed victory was a major loss. From the capital city of Academia to the towns such as Trottingham, nopony had confidence anymore. The loss resulted in a politically established good relation with Princess Celestia, who had taken the island of Ponytannia aboard into the borders of Equestria, sympathising for the land. Many ponies saw this as a great gift from a benevolent ruler, one that would not push a nation into war but have them united together as friends. Yet now you also know the resentment as displayed by that certain mare. Those who had not recovered from the victory that they were promised, that they believe they deserve. Those ponies were just as numerous as were the ponies now loyal to Celestia. Evidently enough, the population of Academia remained divided between supporters and haters of Equestria.<p>

"Aha I found you! How dare you come into that pub and attack Flying Ace like that for a stupid conflict that happened ages ago you impolite mare!" Shadow trotted down the stairs of the port, leading onto the brick pier. He approached the tall black coated mare, who had granted Shadow her full attention.

"Mmmm you're a brave little colt aren't you? Such a shame. The night is perfect and there is a ritual I must attend to." She mysteriously avoided the question, untying a small boat and hopping on.

Immediately, Shadow rushed over to the black mare, standing at the edge of the pier. "Hey where do you think you're goi-"

"Oh you silly little colt! You've made two mistakes! First, I actually have now care for this silly little nation and its past. Second, you're coming with me!" Her answers baffled, Shadow as he widened his eyes to the second part. Going with her? He felt a sudden tingle, butterflies arose in his stomach. His hooves no longer on the stable ground. He looked down to see he was floating! Magic! The mare's magic kept him afloat and swiftly flew him over the water and onto the boat. Pinned down with her single hoof, Shadow was unable to escape her clutch. "And now my little colt friend, your sacrifice shall prove worthy to the pet of Mistress Abyssal!"

* * *

><p>The morning sun shined down onto Ponyville, as ponies happily filled the town continuing to their daily activities, duties and entertainment. Shadow, among the crowds, sought it nice to view the town, having met a few ponies and entered a few buildings. Then again, a black coated pony with a red mane and bat for a cutie mark did indeed draw the paranoid and cautious attention of most ponies, Shadow had been use to it, realising that they were simply not use to a sudden new pony baring these biologically threatening colours. Give them a break, maybe Shadow should tour the outer rim of Ponyville for a bit to try and ease down some attention. As followed, Shadow walked over onto the grassy plains, simply enjoying the bright blue day Ponyville had to offer, with his sincere compliments to the pegasi. Speaking of pegasi, there happened to be one Pegasus now all the way up there. Who other than Rainbow Dash, taking her position on a cloud.<p>

Up on the cloud, Rainbow Dash took her place on the edge of the cloud, husking her chest out with her head up in confidence. She took in a few breaths, inhaling, exhaling, inhaling, and exhaling. "Okay I'm ready for this." She muttered. "I am friendship, I am the sky, **I AM RAINBOW DASH!**" At that, Rainbow Dash's wings shot out as she leaped forward, sky diving down now at a diagonal angle. "Phase three, phase three, phase three!" She repeated with determination! Tears begun to form in her eyes as her velocity increased, raging against the air resistance. Her hooves which were straight forward as she darted down at that angle, now coming to the brink of that subsonic level as the barrier formed around her.

Shadow watched from below in the field, his jaw dropped down in sheer amazement. Was she really doing it? That was the legendary sonic rainboom technique! Rainbow Dash was actually pulling this off! Shadow was awestruck, his eyes fixed on Rainbow Dash darting down as he galloped across the field, trying to keep up with her position. Rainbow Dash had reached that peak just now. In the split of a second, Shadow's eyes narrowed to the rainbow colourful shockwave that was almost blinding. A rainbow darted down at supersonic speed, falling vertically and taking a ninety degree turn horizontally just inches away from the ground. The rainbow darted past Shadow, blowing his mane off to one side, before the colt could even comprehend what had just happened. Shadow could only watch with stars in his eyes, sheer divinity overwhelmed him as the rainbow had now shot back up and left a large curve across the sky. A classic rainbow.

"Awwww yeah! Uh huh! I'm the pony! I'm the awesomely cool pony!" Rainbow Dash cheered to herself, jumping up and down on the field. Her bragging was interrupted to the sound of slow trots coming in from behind. Her attention turned to Shadow. "Oh hey there Shadow! Heh I didn't know I had an audience." She smirked at Shadow and postured herself.

"Rainbow Dash! You were incredible! You were so amazing! It was just so awesome! That was so cool! You're the best pony ever!" Shadow exclaimed, feeling just honoured to be at the presence of Rainbow Dash. She now husked her chest out again, loving all the praise that this colt could give. "Haha, yes, yes it's all true!" She replied pleasantly to her fan. There was something different about him and his cheering, much different, and she took a liking to it. "Heh, oh come on now, I'm sure it's not as amazing as the first sonic rainboom you saw. Heh it explains while you take such a liking to it." Rainbow Dash compensated. "Nope! It was the best one I had ever seen! Even better than Flying Ace's!" Shadow replied gleefully, smiling at Rainbow Dash with all white teeth shining in the sun. Rainbow Dash blushed from Shadow's compliment and that charming smile, rather cute for a dark and mysterious pony by looks, yet there was something about that which she admired. "Oh. N-Nahhhh!" She may have had an ego but she knew she was nowhere near as amazing as one of her long idols. Flying Ace, whom both she and Shadow shared a common interest in. "You know Flying Ace, Shadow. You're one of the luckiest ponies in the world!" Rainbow Dash insisted, shaking off that blush. "Yeah…" Shadow reflected back, sitting down on the grass. "I was pretty lucky huh?"

"Shadow…" Rainbow Dash's voice went unusually solemn. "Can you maybe… tell me about that last part of the story again?" She drew closer to Shadow, sitting down just in front of him, offering her usual smirk to keep up her cool attitude. "Well erm, the ending part where it becomes awesome!" Rainbow Dash kept smiling to comfort Shadow. Shadow Thrill let out a chuckle and prepared to tell his next part. "Very well then Rainbow Dash, I'll take off from when I was foalnapped…for auld lang syne..."

* * *

><p>The night was young as the moonlight revealed a small rowboat out in the middle of the sea. The port of Academia had just left the horizon, had it been the morning. Though now it was much too dark to see anything. Waves built up as the roar of a mighty creature sounded from below the surface of the water. "Let me go! Let me go!" The sound of a colt's British accent screamed. Over the boat, the mare had used her magic to levitate the colt Shadow over the water, preparing to drop him at any minute. "…So Abyssal, oh my dark mistress, queen of the abyss! Accept this sacrifice as I show to you that I am your faithful student! May his soul forever be trapped in the belly of the beast! Your beast which you have gracefully released onto this world to cause destruction and terror!" Once the black mare finished her chant, ignoring every one of Shadow's screams, she released her magic and Shadow dropped down into the water. She merely watched and laughed as the black coated colt shrieked and gasped for air, unable to swim and fearful for his life.<p>

Malicious laughs reached Shadow's ears as the black mare drifted away on her boat, gradually she faded off into the watery darkness, out of sight as the pitch black evening engulfed her. Shadow struggled to keep afloat, not moving from his position in the water. Another roar was heard from below. This was it, his demise! His impending doom drew near. Violently he floated back as a large black and hideous creature cropped its body out the water. An abyssal shark, straight from the abyss itself. It's teeth sharper and deranged than any regular shark. Its eyes glowing red, its skin pitch black. Far more fearful and monsterous than any regular shark. At a tremendous speed it swam toward Shadow, opening its jaws wide, wide enough to eat at least five ponies whole. This was it, the end!

No! As Shadow observed the abyssal shark slowly preparing to snap its jaws down onto him, a series of colours glinted from the corner of his eyes. A rainbow horizontally travelled just above the water surface. Before the jaws could come down and end the life of Shadow, the rainbow had caught the colt and dragged it along with the rainbow. The shark, now left far behind in the water, closed its jaws and sunk back down. Only confusion and relief set off like fireworks in Shadow's mind. Eventually the rainbow came to a sudden halt. Shadow looked up to see his saviour. It was true! Some battles were just not worth fighting for. There he was, Flying Ace, in all of his heroic glory that he was sorry for ever doubting for the rest of his life, grabbed a hold of Shadow with hooves wrapped around him, embracing him in a hug. Shadow did not hug back; the only response he could give was tears. This was the end indeed. Only tears erupted as he looked back at his hero, his saviour, observing his back. Only one wing was present on Ace, the other, lost, and now gone to the dreadful jaws of the abyssal shark.

"You're… you're going already?" Shadow frowned, standing by a large ship belonging to Flying Ace and his fellows. It was the next day from the events which had happened last night.

"Shadow my friend, this is where we part ways." Ace replied with a smile, his cutie mark now revealed as the cape was lost in the flight. His cutie mark being the Ace of spades dashing away with wings. "We all have to go through farewells sooner or later."

Shadow remained standing there, unable to budge, frowning in complete depression over what he had done. What he had caused.

"Shadow." Ace spoke. "I promise that you will see me again. And when you do, I want you to have lived your life; I want it to be perfect. Surpass me Shadow, go out there and make friends and then become the best adventurer you can be. Live your life to the fullest. Promise me that." Ace placed a hoof on Shadow's mane and scruffed it u playfully. "I know you will do me proud." He added with confidence, placing his cape back over him and his only one wing. He turned around and headed for his ship.

Shadow gritted his teeth as he watched his idol move onto the ship. Ace had scruffed his mane, his black mane. No, it had to be red, crimson red, just like Ace's. So must his tail. Shadow watched Ace go on his ship. Tears still trailed down Shadow's face as he observed. Now he realised why Ace had saved him, why Ace had sacrificed his one wing, why Ace would perform his last sonic rainboom that saved his life. In a last effort to make Ace proud, Shadow shouted. "I will Ace! I will become better than you! I promise I will see you again when I have lived my life to the fullest, when I become a great adventurer!"

* * *

><p><strong>This is pretty much the history of Shadow. Yes I do see some Rainbow Dash x Shadow Thrill blooming and I made this intentional. I might just progress with this to try and get some romance in but don't expect any too soon. Do take a note of the characters. I expect evil to kick off soon. And yes, if you're a fan of Discord, he be playing huge roles in the future.<strong>


	6. Chapter 4: Her Name is Abyssal!

**Author's notes: The following story is a My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fanfiction. MLP:FiM is owned by Hasbro and I do not own it. Please support the official release.**

**Chapter 4: Her Name is Abyssal**

Dear Princess Celestia.

I am happy to report that a new friend can appear just around the corner. Even if they may seem like a stranger in the surface, no matter who they are, what they can do and what they look like; if you take time to get to know a pony deep down, you will find that they too have a heart. That's what makes them a pony and more importantly a friend. And I couldn't be any happier than to have made a new friend.

Signed, your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.

"And it's done!" Spike finished, curling up the message and blowing it away; the letter evaporating into a green magical smoke, drifting off to be teleported to Princess Celestia.

"Fantastic, and that's another report I hope Princess Celestia would be proud to read." Twilight responded enthusiastically. "Now, Shadow Thrill came from the city of scholarship right? Academia! I would like to put in some more research about that place and its history." Twilight's horn emitted a magical glow as a book from a nearby shelf floated out and levitated over to the table. "Academia? Didn't they use to be all, evil and all?" Spike questioned. Twilight shook her head as she trotted to the book. "No Spike, it's unfair to classify the population as evil. And I wouldn't quite say evil. You see the mistake of this representative democracy is that it gave rise to determined ponies whom still held onto imperialist ideals. Democracy worked nice for the time but it also involved the dangers of granting power to ponies that do not deserve it. Sadly, Ponytannia made that mistake and that's why they provoked the rest of Equestria into a war." Twilight gave Spike and explanation, chuckling as she read the book, somewhat proud of her basis knowledge. "But that land is safe now. Interestingly enough, it says here that Academia rules the rest of Ponytannia in a 'dual coalition' where democracy is still practiced and ponies can vote for their politics and Princess Celestia still has a rule, so both parties will have to agree on what they want with domestic policies over there." Spike raised an eyebrow, clueless. Twilight's lecture had gone in one ear and out the other. "Haha, Spike, it's just silly old politics, you don't need to worry about that. The point is, Ponytannia and its capital, Academia is safe now. But still, I'm interested to find out which each academy has to offer in magical courses!" In excitement, Twilight rushed through the book, identifying all the relevant pages she needed.

* * *

><p>Far, far south from Equestria, in the land of wilderness and decay. Ash rained down from the black clouds in the sky, falling onto the rocky grounds and diminishing all life. All surfaces was replaced by the microscopic tephra, known as the ash which drowned out all colour from the land, leaving it black. Beyond the depressing small civilisations of run down ruins, buildings, dead trees and miles and miles of ashy lands which were the 'nopony's land', a black fotress rested itself in between the mountains, with mountains to its back. The 'Midnight Fortress' covered in thick ash from the volcano to the east which plumed out its sickly smog and constant rain of ash. Protecting the castle of the midnight fortress, a large black thick wall, shaped in a semi circle, surrounded itself around the castle, each end of the wall ending against the mountains. There was only one direction to come from when raiding this fortress. Within one of the many windows in the midnight castle, there begun the preparations to revive Abyssal's plans for domination.<p>

Inside the building the architecture was gothic and made of grey brick. Within the content of this room was a wooden round table, roughly around six different types of ponies present, all communing amongst each other across the table. Although there were feelings of mixed emotions and disputes, if there was one thing these ponies had in common it was a dark intent in their own ways. "Mares and Stallions, silence for Abyssal's sake." A pony rose up from his chair, speaking with a raised tone of volume, though conserving his calm in the face of the debate, taking his role as a superior judge. He was right to do so. After all, a marshal, above all other ranks, was to be respected and heard. The white coated stallion with a black mane and tail stood with all nobility and respect, a black formal military officer uniform and a black military officer hat, with the ensign on the middle of the hat to prove his rank as a marshal. "With the return of our leader, it's about time we expect organisation within our higher ranking members first before we expect the same firm organisation below. As it is our duty to restore control, we need to open up communication with the mistress's followers in Equestria and all the other kingdoms." He spoke calmly and fluently. Though most ponies couldn't help but look to his eye. Four long scars diagonally cut across his right eye down to his cheek, the most significant feature for the marshal which struck intimidation into his enemies.

"But Marshal Scarface sir, we can't run the risk of uniting with our many scattered groups now! Our mistress has only just awoken once again but she can't expect us to do this already! Equestria is stronger, much stronger than it's ever been. If we act now at our stage we will only run the risk of getting caught!" One member of the other five, stood up in protest to the Marshal's decision, dressed in a similar uniform to the marshal, like all other members, though he as all the others, were not as high ranking as the marshal.

"Sit back down!" Marshal Scarface ordered with warning.

The objector continued. "No sir, we have more key problems now. Trying to establish communications with our scattered groups will only lead us to be caught by Equestria. Furthermore we still have to deal with the vamponies who constantly pester us for blood! We have a limited number of healthy ponies to offer! How long will it be before they start to simply feed of us followers? And after all these years, you still continue to run that infamous group of six privateer scum you call royal privateers! They are nothing but twisted freaks! They are no more than mercenaries who show no loyalty to our cause, and even considering expanding that number as you plan will prove to be a huge mistake!"

Marshal Scarface merely stared at his colleague opposition, thinking it such a shame that a high ranking officer would be such a nuisance at the progress him and Mistress Abyssal plan. "Don't be such an annoyance! Do you not see that if we are to restore this faction to its former glory then we need to reunite as soon as possible. And what better time than now, while Equestria least suspects it. The vamponies will have to wait slightly longer for now, but rest assure we will just have to donate blood from our subordinates until we find some more fresh ponies out there! As for the six royal privateers, they may not be completely loyal but they are the most notorious criminals and individuals who can cause havoc across Equestria for us! Are you losing confidence in this regime, officer?"

The officer gave Marshal Scarface an uneasy look and responded. "Perhaps…. Sir. I fear that our mistress may have been trapped in her coffin for too long. Maybe… her strategic and leadership skills have levelled down over over her duration in imprisonment."

"So you have doubts in my abilities… that issssssss, unfortunate!" A hiss came from the darkness of an archway. The tall black alicorn, Mistress Abyssal, trotted into the scene with her magical black mane and tail waving back, much like Celestia's. Her fangs, clear white, hungry! Her red predator eyes glared at every member, then back to the challenging officer.

"Mi-Mistress! I meant no offence! Please forgive me!" He trembled in fear, now cowering from his leader. Angry red eyes illuminated from the darkness behind Abyssal, striking even more fear into the officer's heart. They were hungry too, much too hungry. "I will have no such weakness amongst my officerssss." She hissed behind her fangs, with a glare of hatred. At once, her horn began to glow…

The officer's mouth opened as he wanted to make a plead for his life, but no words came out. The Marshal and the others merely watched their colleague agonize in pain. "Mistress I-I…" All beating stopped, his pulse came to a halt. That was the last time his heart beat. He simply kept that fearful expression on his face, staring at his queen. Slowly he tilted backwards, it grew faster, and eventually he slammed down onto the ground backwards, the wide eyed expression on his face still stayed even after death. "Feast on him… he would serve better as a means to quench your thirst now, my servants." Immediately, two blood thirsty vamponies emerged from the darkness behind their mistress, taking the deceased body of the officer by his hind legs and dragging his corpse back into the depths of the darkness.

Each member seemed to be shook with fear, all but the marshal. "Was that really necessary?" Where the only words he could gather as the pony he had worked with for so long, under the service of Abyssal, was killed by Abyssal herself. "Scarface dear, believe me, he is better off this way." Mistress Abyssal let out a dark chuckle and moved over to a large empty throne-like seat, decorated in the skulls of ponies. "Now, I trust there are no more objections to my plan…. Good! Then I want the fastest members of my followers here to go out into Equestria and spread the news that their mistress has returned." Each member on the round table nodded, putting aside their concerns now, mostly out of fear that what happened to their colleague would happen to them. That is, all were in fear but Marshal Scarface.

Two other mares emerged and took their place beside their mistress. The mare to the right had a cyan coat, with a long flowing silk white mane. Her cutie mark bore a spiral and her horn proved her to be a unicorn. The mare to the left, well she had a black cloak over her, concealing most of her physical identity. Only her nose stuck out, which was a grey colour. As for her cutie mark, well that was concealed behind the cloak. It was impossible to tell which type of pony she was.

"What are you waiting for my free willed servants? Go now and order your scouts to reach contact!" At once each pony of the table scooted away desperately, preparing themselves to carry out their orders, all but the marshal. "As for you Marshal." Abyssal turned to glare at him with a smile. "That council of privateers are not the only mercenaries we shall benefit from." Abyssal smiled behind her fangs. Marshal Scarface nodded. "Then I think I know what you have in mind, but are you sure that bounty hunters are the ones to trust? They are less likely to be loyal to us than the privateers."

Mistress Abyssal hissed in delight, stretching her hooves beyond the armrests of the chair and instead resting her hooves onto the manes of the two mares by her side. "So long as their precious bits are involved, they will do our work. Get me into contact with the best one available now, the others will follow afterwards." Abyssal ordered. At once, the marshal immediately pulled out a poster from his uniform pocket and laid it out flat on the table, just in front of Abyssal. "Are you sure that you can trust the hooves of bounty hunter's to free Discord from the palace of Canterlot. Remember, he is trapped inside a stone statue after all." The marshal raised his concerns. Abyssal merely looked down and stared at this individual's poster with delight. "Oh I trust very few of them to do the job. But this one, well I know with him, this will not fail. And once Discord is away from princess Celestia's sight, phase one of my plan shall be complete."

* * *

><p>A pony sat himself leaned back on a tilted chair, with his hind legs resting on the table in front of him. Worn by him was a long red coat, which looked like it could be a dust coat or a trench coat. Scruffy, the coat had seen the days of war when it was once a proud red military jacket worn by the soldiers of Ponytannia, though the gold trimmings had been torn off and its epaulette removed. It now looked like an ordinary red military dusttrench coat, with its tail dangling down onto the floor. On his head was a grey cowboy hat, rested firmly in between his ears, tilted down to create a shadow over the stallion's eyes. The colour of his natural coat, a khaki colour; as for his mane and tail, it was a brushed back and coloured firmly brown. The room was dark, only a few rays of sunlight managed to break through the small gaps of the closed blinds, only revealing stripes of this pony and his surroundings. A dark blue mist seeped through the cracks of the window and the gaps of the blinds, collecting itself in a darker corner of the room. A pair of bright red eyes opened up and stared at the pony in the red long coat. "You're him; you are the stallion I am looking for…" The cold black voice of Mistress Abyssal spoke.

"If it's a job where you don't want the blood or dirt on your hooves, then I am your stallion." The tilted pony muttered, not making any effort to reposition himself, nor look up at his client. No, he just remained complacent with his position.

"Then I knew I could come to you for this special job, Bounty hunter, Deadeye."

"Just tell me what needs to be done." The hunter's rough tone of voice spoke as a lighter lit, revealing just a vague image of his body behind the dark stripes the window left. He brought the lighter box to a cigarette, placed in his mouth, igniting its end. He killed off the lighter flame by closing the box of the lid. He inhaled the fumes of the cigarette with one side of his mouth and with the other, he exhaled carbon monoxide.

"I'm glad you're so eager to begin, I'm sure your reputation shall be recognizable." Abyssal snickered in her dark concealment with malicious delight. "There is a prisoner held in the grounds of the Canterlot Palace. He goes by the name of Discord, the lord of all chaos. It's a shame that he has been imprisoned in a stone statue, but if he were to be released from captivity and brought to a group of my disciples, the reward would be bountiful."

The bounty hunter's head perked up, revealing his eyes, underneath the shade of his cowboy hat, which seemed to have caught an interest, though his facial expression would seem all too stone cold serious. Yet going back to his eyes…. His right pupil seemed abnormal, far greater in size than the left pupil. Deadeye, turned his head to the corner of the dark room. There it was, a saddle rested upon the open lid of the box which contained his weapons and ammunition. That was his 'fortay', a precise shot when it comes to using guns, all guns of the likes. "Deal!"

* * *

><p>One week has passed since Shadow Thrill's arrival into Ponyville. In the park of Ponyville, a picnic was enjoyed by seven ponies, all gathered around the square cloth on the grass. "Oh Shadow, Shadow, it was oh so super fantastic that you could join this picnic with us!" Pinkie Pie joyfully announced, hopping up high and down around the picnic area. "And I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the invite, thank you girls." Shadow smiled appreciatively around at every member of the group. "Hey, anypony who was saved by the 'amazing' Flying Ace is cool enough to qualify in hanging out with us!" Dash playfully nudged Shadow. Shadow smiles back cheerfully at Rainbow Dash who giggled along with him, while he would quickly rub that nudge Rainbow Dash had given him when she wasn't looking. She could pack quite a punch, that was something Shadow admired! "You sure are welcome to go on an outing with us anytime scarypony." Applejack input. "Oh and did ya really have to bring that darn chair along Rarity?" Applejack asked, turning her head to Rarity who was comfortably leaning on her fancy red chair. "Oh but of course darling, you know my policy. I simply cannot sit on the grass."<p>

"Yeah, yeah, we know! Let's dig in!" Rainbow Dash announced impatiently, drawing the picnic basket near. "But first desert!" Pinkie stated, knocking the picnic basket away and slamming down a large cake on a plate in its place. "Pinkie Pie!" Dash yelled in frustration as Pinkie merely gave a wide smile in response. "Come on Dash, I figured we skip the whole tradition of courses and go straight for the dessert first! That way it won't feel like work to get to the best part of the meal! We all know that dessert is what all ponies strive for, so why include the needless courses." Pinkie continued as Shadow seemed to be the only one in confusion, the others seemed far more acceptant to Pinkie's logic. "Classic Pinkie Pie." Twilight said to Shadow, giving a sheepish smile. "Well I tired." Rainbow Dash shrugged and whipped out a pair of sunglasses, placing them on. "Wake me up when this is over." With that, she lay down on the grassy field, her front hooves behind her head. "Wow…. You look so cool Dash!" Shadow gazed at her…. Admiring her. An awkward silence fell as everypony else stared at Shadow, who was staring at Dash.

"U-uhm.." Fluttershy made a nervous mumble, quickly grasping Shadow's attention. He turned his attention back to the others once more, giving a nervous blush. "Errr… ehh, l-let's eat?" Shadow tried to change the situation for redemption. "Yeah let's." Applejack agreed, giggling a little along with Pinkie Pie who joined in with the giggles. Shadow bowed his head down nervously, attempting to hide the blush as all the other girls humorously smiled, grabbing at some slices of cake; knowing all too well Shadow was admiring Rainbow Dash a little more than just a fan. As Shadow nervously tried to contain his blush and the girls smiled amongst each other happily enjoying the picnic the unaware Dash lay on the grass, blissfully enjoying the sun light.

"Hey, you're blocking my sun." Rainbow Dash awoke to the sudden disturbance of a shade which overcame, blocking off the sun. She flicked her sunglasses up. A coffee brown coloured, earth pony, stallion with a long curtained pale brown mane stood tall in between the rays of sunlight and Rainbow Dash. "G-good day ponies." He said, having a slight fit of blinking habits while he put on a wide yet oddly exaggerated smile. All ponies looked up at him, unable to help but feel weirded out by this strange new pony. "Ooooooh a new pony! Oh how exciting, a new pony already!" All ponies but Pinkie Pie. "Oh this is just great! I'll prepare the secret sur-". Instantly Pinkie placed her hooves over her mouth to stop her from spoiling a planned party for the newcomer and at once, she dashed away from the scene, back to Sugarcube corner for preparations.

"Errr…. Hello there…" Twilight greeted with curiosity, Fluttershy took her place behind Twilight…. Fluttershy was shaking… as if she of all could feel there was something not right about this pony. Rarity refused to say anything other than observe from her chair, widening her eyes to the grotesque cutie mark this coffee brown coated pony had…. They were four blood marks. Scars? No they looked like cuts. Four vertical wounded cuts which looked like they had been carved in with a knife. "Er howdy?" Applejack greeted uneasily, perhaps the title of scarypony should go to this new one now, because he seemed to fit the definition of 'freaky'. The pony opened his mouth, stuttering and making emphasising noises in his throat, as if he were struggling to speak. "Ah-ah It's very ni…ce to meet you!" He forced his exaggerated smile even wider, sitting down in between Shadow and Dash, having another quick fit of blinks.

The group looked at each other awkwardly, being friendly was one thing but this? The strange pony had just invaded their picnic and taken a seat as if he were part of the group, giving no more than a greeting. Plus he looked odd…. Very, very odd… "So errr… My name is Shadow Thrill! Pleased to meet you chap!" Shadow held out his hoof to gesture a hoofshake. The only reply from this pony was a slow turn of his head to look at Shadow Thrill, his smile still freaky and twisted. "Sqeee" Fluttershy squeaked, trying to hide behind Twilight completely.

"Okay… Well what is your name?" Twilight asked, tilting her head, curious for his reaction. "Kni…Knives!... Long Knives!" He let out a freakish snicker, causing Fluttershy to let out another "Sqeee." Twilight blinked. "Oooookay… That's you're name is it?" She asked. Long Knives nodded dramatically, "Yes...Yes!" he repeated. Another awkward silence fell upon the group as they merely gazed at Knife's blinking twitches. Eventually it was Applejack who spoke up. "Look mister, you seem like an awfully ermm…. Interesting stallion, but we don't really know who you are and where you came from. But if you don't mind, we're try'nah just have a picnic here…..errr… just us close friends." She put it both politely and honestly. He was silent for a while, letting go of another twitch in his eyes, even twitching his smile, but still holding it in place. After some time, he spoke up "Ah-…. I'm going to be….very close to….y-you." He stuttered while holding that twisted smile. Rarity raised an eyebrow "Excuse me?" Though Rarity let off a little shudder as Knives turned his head slowly over to Rarity, at first, suddenly twitching it sharply until he was looking right toward her. "Ah…Ah… Y-you ponies will….forever be… a part of me." He stated. Now all of them truly were freaked out by this, a cold shiver going down each of them… but Rainbow Dash, who hovered up and looked at him dead in the eye. "Okay stallion! Listen here! You're a creepy colt who just interrupted my sun and you're now speaking these weird statements. You're nothing but a foal who is trying to act like a freak just to ruin our day, so why don't you make like a bee and buzz off!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, gritting her teeth afterwards.

The freaky theme of Knives' face did not change, he just stared smiling back at Rainbow Dash's threats, while the other ponies were in shock, this guy was really pushing Rainbow Dash to the edge. Shadow feeling worried… intervened. "Dash, maybe its best no-"

"Do…..do not despair…. With worry…Or rage." Knives' spoke. "For she has come!... Ah-…And now!" he let out a maniacal sounding laugh. "She will liberate us…. I can… I can come out and…ah-…. Save you from this cruel world."

"Shutup!" Rainbow Dash yelled, pressing her nose against his and staring him dead in the eye with defensive confidence. "This world is not cruel and we don't need any saving! Wherever you came from, I suggest you go back there because you can't go around here speaking like a maniac! Go away!" Rainbow Dash yelled, in front of his face.

"Wait Rainbow Dash!" Twilight joined in. "Who is this 'she' you are talking about?"

"Ah-…She is the one who….. Who will allow me, my right…to save you all from the curse of…. Existence… She is my mistress…. Mistress Abyssal."

Instantaneously, Twilight Sparkle and Shadow Thrill widened their eyes, slowly opening their mouths. That cold shiver down their spines just froze up, as they literally were both unable to move. "Look foal, you're crazy and clearly not right in the head! Just leave right now!" Rainbow Dash pursued, throwing her hooves forward to push Long Knives down onto the floor. Long Knives looked up at the sky, still holding that smile and letting off some more blinking twitches. "Why do you reject….. My…..gift… Death is a beautiful purification… Death is magic." Everypony gasped to his statement. Rainbow Dash grew a red face, steamed with rage; she gritted her teeth wildly and raised a hoof up, preparing to hurl it straight for the stallion's face. "THAT'S IT! I SHOULD HAVE DONE THIS FRO-" She was immediately grabbed by Applejack and held back. "Settle down there Dash." She said, keeping her cool and trying to calm Rainbow Dash down.

"No you're wrong!" Twilight called. "Abyssal is gone! I've read all about it, she was locked away in her coffin and bound to it for eternity. Princess Celestia ended her reign in the south, she is long gone and her evil black magic has come to an end!" Twilight proclaimed. "And if you're a sympathiser that that must mean you're a follower! You're one of the followers of Abyssal!" Twilight came to the deductive conclusion, suddenly growing just as enraged as Rainbow Dash. Long Knives clapped his hooves together at a fast pace, letting out another maniacal laugh. "She….. She's back…. And….. I'm going to carve my knife innnntooooo your flesh!"

Rainbow Dash broke free from Applejack's grip and slammed her hoof in a downward sweep, striking Long Knives across the right side of his face. "Haha! The pain!... I love the pain!... They do this before their… end." He laughed again, even after Rainbow Dash smacked him across the face from the other direction, he still continued to laugh. "Rainbow Dash stop, that's enough!" Twilight insisted, while Applejack gripped Rainbow Dash and held her back again. "No! Let me at him! This pony deserves to know he should have never messed with us!" Rainbow Dash tried to struggle out of Applejack's grip. "That's not a cutie mark, those are carving marks." Shadow spoke up, observing his cutie mark enough to analyse that it was not an image, it was real. "Gahhh the police! Contact the police! This is simply horrible!" Rarity cried in absolute horror over the ruffian's appearance and intentions. Futtershy backed away from the confrontation, tears forming in her eyes as she was stricken with fear.

"You're a psychopath sir, you know that!" Shadow yelled angrily, looking on as the psychopathic pony picked himself up from the ground. "Ah-….. A psychopath is meaningless… what you say is meaningless…. Everything is meaningless….. meaningless…. All except…. Your liberation….. " And then he galloped away from the scene, heading toward the direction of the Everfree forest. "Let me go! Let me go! I'll catch that no good pony!" Rainbow Dash still struggled to get out of Applejack's grip. "No Shadow don't…" Twilight said to Shadow, noticing that Shadow's own shadow was missing, one could work out that Shadow's intention was for his shadow to follow the pony so he could chase him while staying back. "No Twilight! This pony is clearly sick and he needs help. Not the help we can give him, but we can at least set him off in the right direction." Shadow remained adamant, his horn still illuminating a lavender light. Twilight opened her mouth to try and reason but was flooded out by Shadow's triumph. "Got him!" And at that, Shadow begun to phase out, instead the black silhouette, tangible and ooze-like doppelganger with its purple outline yes and mouth, took Shadow's place.

"I'm back! And the surprise is ready! Now where is he?" Pinkie Pie giddily hopped back into the scene once more, looking around for the new pony, though also displaying some confusion to the expression of each girl. "Come on girl! You should all be smiling, the party is just about to begin!"

* * *

><p>The coffee brown coated earth pony was on the muddy ground, pinned down on all four of his legs by the hooves of a black silhouette figure which was now phasing out, switching places with the real Shadow, who began to phase into place with his mimicking doppelganger. "I have you now!" Shadow opened, keeping his hooves firm in place on Knives' legs. "….Slicing…and slicing and slicing….and slicing and…slicing" He seemed to mumble on those words, giving Shadow no significant acknowledgement. "Stop making stupid comments and talk already chap! Where are you from and where are the other followers of Abyssal!" Shadow yelled, moving his face closer to Knives' face, expressing utmost frustration.<p>

"…and slicing… and slicing and slicing and… ah-…they're here…" Knives laughed out some more all while going into another blinking fit and sharply tilting his head over to the side. "What the hay are you talking about?" There was a sudden rustle in the bushes. Shadow turned over to see, as a lion's head popped out, letting out a fierce growl and emerging itself from the concealment of the bushes. Shadow couldn't react in time, as the manticore charged right up to him and raised its clawed paw high, now going down for the swing. "That's enough Leon!" A female voice called as she emerged from the other side, the lion's paw halted in mid air, all while Shadow was able to comprehend what was going on and jump back off Knives! "You're a clever one." The silver maned and yellow coated mare added from the side, grinning over at Shadow. She was another earth pony.

"Wh-who are you?" Shadow asked, shaken with some fear over the sudden near-strike of the manticore, who was now growling at Shadow, locking its eyes onto him. "Why do you seem so surprised? You called for the followers of Abyssal and here we are. Well the Everfree forest followers." She spoke in a teasing manner, as around six more followers appeared from the walls of trees that made the Everfree forest. "An, an ambush?" Shadow muttered, looking around at the ponies that were concealed in cloaks, appearing around him and Knives. "You can stop speaking now. Leon if he tries to escape then you have permission to pick food early." The mare spoke, trotting over to Knives who had now lifted himself up. "And you are from the south, a messenger I presume, from other followers. What news do you have to bring?" She asked, edging over to Knives.

"Ah….I'm here….to b-bare the good news…. Of her return but…. I want to cut something! I want to cut something…. Something living…"

The mare face hooved from having to deal with a crazy one. "Why must all of the messengers these days be impossible to talk with?" she muttered to herself. "Okay take him to our area!" She instructed as two followers chained Knives by his front two knees, one chain to each side, gripped by the follower's mouths so that he was forced to walk along with them. "I will see you soon for your liberation… very very soon….." he turned his twisted smile back to look at Shadow, before being tugged to move long further down the road. The yellow coated and silver maned mare looked over at Shadow and gave a wicked smile. "And as for you, youll-"

"You'll not lay a hoof on him!" A familiar voice interrupted. Rainbow Dash flew into the scene all of a sudden, even faster than the manticorn's charge as Shadow could only comprehend what was going on just as Rainbow Dash landed down on the ground beside him. "Rainbow Dash! How did you find me?" Shadow asked in deep surprise. "We followed your shadow, seeing as it went back into the Everfree forest." Dash replied, glaring over at the manticorn and the followers. Shadow looked down to see his regular two dimensional shadow connected to his body once more, it's true. He should pay more attention. "And just who the hay are you?" The mare asked, raising an eyebrow over the rainbow Pegasus who had just appeared.

"We're the elements of harmony! The friends who will get rid of the evil followers around here and save the rest of Equestria from your evil practices!" Twilight announced, speaking firmly and trotting calmly into the scene, followed by Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and a more anxious Fluttershy. "Oh, the elements of harmony?" The mare replied, seeming unstartled by their appearance.

"For the infamous followers of Abyssal, it's apparent that you didn't read your history books!" Twilight announced with a smirk, standing in line with Shadow and Rainbow Dash, followed by the others; Dash rolling her eyes to Twilight's remark. "Wait, the rest of you came along too?" Shadow asked in confusion. "Shadow, you can already see us here, why do you bother asking?" Twilight let out a giggle.

"Enough of this! I was going to take your little friend here away, but if you are all persistent to rush to his defence then I guess I shall just take all of you along with him!" The yellow mare snarled, tilting her head toward them, gesturing the remaining four cloaked ponies to move in.

"Come at us bro!" Dash exclaimed, taking off with her wings at an incredible speed toward one of them, twirling around and around, confusing the cloaked follower who was spinning around himself, trying to catch a where she was. Unfortunately he was too dizzy to notice he was in the middle of a rainbow whirlwind and as Rainbow Dash slowed down to a complete halt, the follower could see three, no four Rainbow Dash's. "Too easy." She teased, helping the dizzy follower take his rest by lightly pushing him onto the ground.

"Oh, no, no, no. I simply cannot partake with such ruffian activity; I only just had my mane styled to perfection." Rarity announced, though she had a change of heart to a certain muddy hoof from a cloaked follower which was now touching her shoulder. "How dare you!" She screeched, raising up on her hind legs and twisting around to smack the cloaked follower across the face with her own hoof. In a combination of a smack which staggered the follower back, she kicked her left hind leg forward, landing it into the follower's barrel, successfully kicking him down. "How dare a vile villain like you place a hoof on an elegant lady?"

"Weeeee!" Pinkie jumped for joy as two followers charged toward her from both sides, instead, colliding into each other. Pinkie landed on both their heads as they collided, her two front legs on one and two hind legs on the other. "Haha, this is great, I love making pony pyramids!" She happily jumped off, allowing the two followers to slump down. "YEEEEEHAWWWW! Let's rustle up these no good outlaws!" Applejack galloped along with the lasso prepared, being twirled around from her mouth. She hurled it toward the enemies, catching both in the hole and locking them in a tight bind, galloping around the two followers until completely bound together by thick rope. "There, easy as apple pie!" She finished. "Oh but apple pie is just sooo easy as you can eat the whole thing in one bite! But these guys aren't like pie because they move around and don't taste as good. Oh but speaking of apple pie I would love some apple pie, would you like some apple pie?" Pinkie continued on through Applejack's sigh.

"This is absolutely ridiculous! Leon, show these imbeciles how this is supposed to be done!" The yellow mare instructed, looking to her animal companion, widening her eyes in utter shock over the sight she was seeing. Both the manticore Leon and Fluttershy were seated on the ground associating with one another. "So uhm… don't you think it's much more appropriate to limit your diet on meat now? Seeing as the large quantities your owner has you consume on a daily basis can be a danger to your own health. Instead the better alternative would be to have a right balance of greens and vegetations, and then you will be at a much healthier state, right?" The manticore nodded at Fluttershy, licking her on the side of her face with approval. "Hehe, you're such a polite manticore, and so reasonable too. I would love to sort you out with a recommended diet." Fluttershy gave a sweet and innocent smile at the manticore, having now befriended the enemy.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me! Just hurry up and stop them!" The mare yelled out, her voice echoing across the Everfree forest. The bushed rustled and four more followers came along, taking the place of their fallen comrades. "Stand back girls!" Twilight called, trotting into the front line of the area, closer toward the leading mare. Twilight's horn began to glow as she hovered up a few feet into the air, the four new followers moving in to try and apprehend her. As they got close enough now, Twilight shot back down onto the ground, releasing a purple, circular shockwave which blew the followers back behind the yellow mare. "Give it up; I won't have you harming any of my friends or Princess Celestia. She is a benevolent ruler and brings happiness to everypony. Far more than I can say for your leader, Abyssal!" Twilight warned, edging in closer to the yellow earth pony. "And as princess Celestia's faithful student, I hereby order your arrest!"

The yellow mare growled in sheer rage, having her pawns defeated so easily had left her in a vexed state. "I'll make you sorry you all ever laid eyes on me! Our mistress has returned, and as soon as we receive our orders, we will rise up against your tyrant Celestia and place a real ruler in charge! Enjoy your Princess Celestia while you can ponies, because when Abyssal is our queen, I'll make sure you ponies will be the first ones to be made an example of!" She looked toward her manticore. "Leon! Come on let's go!" She whipped her tongue in an order. "Goodbye Leon." Fluttershy gave her sweet farewell, smiling at the manticorn, who smiled back at her and marched to his owner. The mare let out another growl over the sight of relations between her beast and the enemy. Leaping onto the manticorn's back, the manticorn took flight and glided down the path.

"Shouldn't we go after her?" Rarity suggested.

"Leave her. She's fallen into a desperate state, besides, she's left pretty powerless now." Twilight responded.

"You know, for a large and powerful organisation, they sure do have a lot of… fodder." Shadow spoke in a light tone, tipping the dizzy one back down again with his hoof.

"Tell me about it! Why don't we follow that leader over there, I bet she can take us to the real challenge!" Rainbow Dash arrogantly smirked, scraping her hooves across the ground into a crouching position, looking as if she wants to suddenly dart off toward the escapees direction.

"Nah, we've clearly showed them folk a thing or two. I doubt they'll mess with us again!" Applejack gave the same confident smirk as Rainbow Dash, only less aggressive on pursue and more so defensive.

"Well so much for that one bizarre chap… " Shadow concluded that case, bowing his head with a little annoyance over losing Knives. "Oh but you girls are the elements of harmony! You never mentioned this!" Shadow lifted his head up as he turned back to face the group, showing accelerated excitement. "This is so cool! I never knew you girls where the elements all along!" He was stimulated with deep fascination that his friends were actually the elements of harmony all along, mentioned from texts, art and talked about in the academies all the time.

"That's right! You're looking at the element of loyalty right here!" Rainbow Dash stroke a heroic pose, looking off into the distance confidently with her wings stretched out to show every detail. It seemed as if a design light had shun from the back as Shadow was awestruck with stars in his eyes, looking upon Rainbow Dash as if she were a superhero saviour. Rainbow Dash smirked, enjoying every bit of Shadow's attention.

"Golly you sure are easy to impress scarypony." Applejack gave a little tap on Shadow's head to snap him out of his trance on Dash. "Oh sorry. I, I just never knew you were all the ponies that have their own sources littered around the world. You're all famous; we had to learn about the elements all the time in our studies." Shadow explained, looking delighted. "Oh come on now, we're not as famous as made out to be." Twilight gave a rosey blush, flattered by the compliments and the knowledge that ponies had to learn about them. "Ermm, yes we are!" Dash contradicted.

"Girls, why don't we all inform Shadow of our elements?" Twilight suggested.

Everypony stood in line before Shadow, stepping forward and striking a pose as they individually named their own element in order.

"Honesty"

"Generosity"

"Ehm, Kindness"

"Laughter"

"Loyalty"

"And I am the element of magic."

"Wow this is so awesome, I've made friends with the elements of harmony!" Shadow uttered with enthusiasm. Twilight let out a little giggle. "Heh, well we're not exactly the elements remember. They're material objects, but I guess we have-"

"The metaphysical spirit of each element you represent within you individually?" Shadow finished.

"Couldn't have said it any better myself. And that's what allows us to activate our elements." Twilight concluded. "Phew. And now after this rough display, I think we could all use a well deserved rest." Her eyelids grew heavy as she could feel the weary effects of having used that magical shockwave to blow away those enemies. "Yeah a nap sounds good right about now." Rainbow Dash supported the notion. "A nap? Bah, there's way too much to do right now before we can nap now! And where is that new pony? He's going to miss the super special spectacular surprise!" Pinkie sharply turned her head around for every corner, on the lookout for Knives.

"There is no time for that now Pinkie. In all seriousness I need to head back to the library right away and write a letter to Princess Celestia over the events of what happened here. Apparently an old and powerful enemy is back and Celestia must be informed, she will know exactly what to do." Twilight turned around along with the others, now beginning their journey back to Ponyville.

"Hey, Shadow." Rainbow Dash stopped and allowed Shadow to catch up, tagging along with him at the back. "Do you really think I'm…. well … amazing?" She asked, looking up to him and providing a friendly smile. "Oh, well of course miss Dash! You're such an amazing pony, your speed, your agility, your strength and you can do the legendary sonic rainboom! Everything about you is almost perfect!" Shadow replied, causing Rainbow Dash to look away for a second while she blushed from all the compliments, though quickly shaking it away so as not to show any of those inner feelings, sticking abstract now. "Haha, just call me Dash." She chuckled over Shadow's accent which encompassed his funny terms. "So ermm, I was wondering, if you think I'm 'almost' perfect, how about I show you a few more of my skills and make you drop the 'almost'?" Rainbow Dash suggested, moving closer to Shadow. "Y-y-yes of course!" Shadow nervously and suddenly snapped, honoured to be invited to be by her presence in private and also nervous. Nervous because deep down, from the moment she had suggested the offer, inside he felt the sensation of the butterfly effect in his stomach.

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><p><strong>Pretty awesome if I do say so myself and eeeyup, I have a lot planned for the villains now. Expect some more tension and action to go down in the next chapter. As usual, I'm always open to some suggestions and OC ideas. I'll try and be a lot faster when uploading some more chapters for this story.<strong>


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